The First Champion
by Winged Lady Colette
Summary: Zack Fair is caught amongst titans. Some that love him, some that hate him, some that want to save him, and others that want to kill him. Zack is going to find out what it means to be the center of three firsts' universe. yaoi AGZS
1. To Midgar

**Author's note: Yes, another story, but this one is about Zack. So.. it's different! It's an idea I've been mulling around with for a bit. I hope you enjoy. Let me know what you think!**

**Warnings: None.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the story idea and OCs.**

**Words: 4,901**

It was that time of year. That time when hopefuls from all over the lands flock to Midgar in hopes of making it big. In hopes of becoming powerful business men with the good graces of the Shinra Electric Power Company or having a stab at being an infamous SOLDIER in the Shinra Army. So many hopes and dreams come to Midgar only to be crushed by bloodthirsty and power hungry business men that already took up residence there. And the youngest of hopefuls get weeded out by the rough and gruelling training to become a candidate of SOLDIER.

The city is lively, always welcoming new blood on the surface, but the looming threat of the city beneath the plates is always present. Even though no tangible evidence of the degrading civilian life beneath the plates is present above it, it is widely known that it could be them one day. A part of it is the thrill, the constant worry that every day could be the last one you have on the surface. That one wrong move and men in black suits will be busting down your door. Another part of it is pride. Being able to climb to the top and be recognized while so many others are crushed beneath the soles of one's metaphorical boot.

The trains, while always bustling, is moreso this time of year than any other. Mostly filled with young boys willing and eager to join the SOLDIER program.

Pretty sky blue eyes widen in awe as the train draws closer to Midgar. He grins down at his cuffed hands, ignoring the pain in the knuckles of his right middle and forefinger. And the middle knuckle on his left hand is bruised too. Purple hand marks on his wrists are easily ignored too.

The woman next to him, old enough to be his grandmother, stares slightly mortified at the young boy beside her. Other then his knuckles and wrists, she can see shadows under his left eyes-it's black and in the stages of healing- and from the way he sits leaning more on his right side she can only assume that he is hurt somewhere on the ribs or hip on the left side.

When his blue eyes flicker over to her, she expects a haunted, drained look on his face. A clear cut sign of abuse. But she is shocked when he smiled brilliantly at her. Two pearly white rows of teeth flash brightly.

"Hi there, how are you?" the boy asks, startling her further.

The woman jumps slightly, surprised at just how _happy _he sounds. "Oh, well, I'm fine, dear. And you?"

The boy practically bounces in his seat. "I am so excited! I'm going to be joining Shinra today. I can't wait. Oh, uh, do you live here? In Midgar, I mean."

She nods. "Over in Sector 4." Normally, she would be cautious of telling a complete stranger anything about her, but the words just drifted from her mouth before she really had a chance to think about them. Something about this boy is very disarming. He could have gotten the bruises in some kind of gang fight. Although she can't seem to see this boy with his big blue eyes as being part of anything remotely bad.

"Ooh, that's so cool! You see SOLDIERs often? You know, because you live in Midgar," the boy says, his eyes turning back to the window across from him. Even though the train is packed full of people, he can still see Midgar just over another kids head.

"I see them often," the old woman says, amused. "They're very impressive, aren't they?

The boy bounces up and down in the seat excitedly. "They so are! SOLDIERs are so cool and powerful. They are like peace keepers. The guys who do the right thing when the time comes. The one people look forward to," he sighs, looking off dreamily. "Goddess, I'm going to one just like them. The best kind of SOLDIER there is. You just wait, alright? When I become a hero, I'll come visit." He smiles brilliantly at her.

The smile that crosses the old woman's lips is a sad but hopeful one. She's heard something like this multiple times every year for as long as she has been in Midgar and each time she looks upon the hopeful faces it leaves her a little cold and sad. These poor boys come from far and wide to have their dreams crushed by Shinra and it's just sad to her.

"I'm Zack, by the way," Zack says, holding his hand out for her.

She takes his hand. "Ruby. It's a pleasure to meet you, Zack."

_"Welcome to Midgar. Security check point ahead. We thank you for your_ co-operation."

Zack is practically vibrating in excitement. "I'm almost in Midgar! This is so exciting."

"Please Zack, whilst in Midgar, take care of yourself."

Zack takes her hands, surprising her a bit by how gentle he holds them. It's almost enough for her to forget that he has bruises... probably all over his body from who knows what.

"I will. Thank you so much, Ruby. You too, okay?" Zack blinks charmingly, long dark eyelashes brushing the top of his cheek bones. Ruby smiles, squeezing Zack's hands back.

"I will, thank you, Zack."

The security check point took place at the train station. Zack helped Ruby off and she was let passed the Infantry when she showed them her Midgar I.D. Multiple others pass by as well, but Zack, like all of the other newbies in town, had to go through the checkpoint.

"Name," an Infantryman with a gruff voice asks. Holds up a clipboard, pen poised over the lined paper. There is like ten of them, probably a squad or part of a squad, is in charge of the check point, Zack supposes. People are lined up in front of them, getting their information written down before they can pass through and walk the final stretch to the Shinra Tower.

"Zack Fair."

"Born Name?"

"Zackary Kyle Fair."

The Infantryman jolts something down. "Age?"

"Fourteen."

"Birthday?"

"November 8th."

The Infantryman's lips quirk slightly. "Nine months from Valentines day."

Zack rolls his eyes. "Trust me, buddy. You are not the first to point that out." The Infantryman chuckles, shaking his head. He jots something else down.

"You do realize that you have to be at least 15 to be allowed into the program. SOLDIER or Infantry."

Zack tilts his head slightly. "I never said I was going to join Shinra," he says, smiling.

The Infantryman grunts, shaking his head again. "Every boy your age is here only to join SOLDIER or Infantry. It wasn't that hard to guess. Now, am I lying?" Zack shakes his head. "Good, still have to be fifteen."

Zack digs around in his pocket and pulls out a note from the recruiter and hands it to the older man. It's then that he notices the bruises on Zack's knuckles. He looks at them, then to his wrists, then his black eye.

Zack smiles lightly. "You should see the other guy."

Mutely, the Infantryman takes the note and looks at it. His birthday is coming up and it has been approved by Shinra hierarchy to let him in for the month before he turned fifteen. It's been signed off and it looks official. But it's not his job to analyse it. He hands it back to Zack.

"Make sure to give this to the Cadet registry officer for record. You can go."

Zack stuffs the note back in his pocket, nodding. A brilliant smile nearly splitting his face. "Thanks a lot. Have a good day!" Without waiting for a response, Zack jogs past, picking up speed when he reaches the street. Glad to leave the platform and the din of too many people gathered together, Zack breaks into a full on sprint when the main road that leads straight to the Shinra tower comes into view. He holds his left side. Pain searing from his ribs, but he's too excited to worry about caution.

This was it. He was going to get into SOLDIER and become a Hero. It's been his dream ever since he was young. The recruiter from Gongaga even wrote him a note so that he could get in before his birthday so he wouldn't have to wait another year. "You've got amazing potential," he had said and Zack practically glowed. It took Zack days to convince his parents to let him go. He had to promise to write for his mom and come home every chance he got for his dad. And even then his dad insisted on sending him an allowance.

Zack had outwardly scoffed at it, saying that he was going to start making his own money and didn't need handouts, but inwardly he was glad that he would have a leg up at least to take care of himself until he actually made it into SOLDIER. It was commonly known that Cadets get paid practically nothing but provided almost everything to make up for it. While Thirds get paid slightly more, the majority of their income derives from missions.

SOLDIER is actually paid very poorly, but because they are able to take missions and get paid that extra bit, it almost makes up for it. It encourages taking missions. It also encourages taking on other jobs in the company. Like his instructors for example, they are probably SOLDIERs that take missions according to their rank and also have a teaching job on the side and get paid a salary for both. Admittedly, Zack was so ecstatic when he learned he would be able to go that he read everything and anything about Shinra that he could get his hands on.

Zack didn't take any time to look at the sights of Midgar. It didn't much matter to him. He was going to make it into SOLDIER and he would get the opportunity to look around then. Right now, it's all about the dream. Unfortunately, everything Zack read about the Cadet program all had one thing in common: It was brutal. They were going to weed out everyone they could before allowing anyone into SOLDIER.

And Zack couldn't _wait._

Once Zack was at the steps of Shinra, he doubled over and breathed heavily. His ribs aching at every breath. There was also a stitch at his side that he barely noticed under the strain of aching ribs. But his blood was humming. It was like music to his ears. He always enjoyed doing physical stuff; running, jumping, climbing, etc. Anything to get him moving and he loved it. Zack wasn't Zack if he wasn't running around all day doing errands for people or playing games with the younger kids in town. Zack didn't have any friends his age. They were either older than him by three or four years or younger by six or seven.

So hanging out with boys closer to his age was going to be so much fun too.

Someone steps onto the step next to him. Zack straightens up, flinching at the pain at his side. A Wutaian man stands in front of him in a black suit. His black hair pulled back into a ponytail. A tattoo of a jewel on his forehead and dark brown eyes stare down at him.

Zack smiles breathlessly. "Hi, sorry. I'm not loitering, just catching my breath."

"You're fine," the man says. "Did you run all the way from the station?"

Zack laughs, flinching at the pain at his side. "Yeah, I kinda got over excited." He rubs the back of his head sheepishly, wild spiky hair sticking up in all directions. He's finally starting to catch his breath. "Unfortunately, that happens more than I'd like to admit."

"I see." The man tilts his head slightly, taking in the boy's wounds.

Zack notices his eyes and sheepishly says, "Yeah, I'm a little hurt."

A black eyebrow raises at that. "How astute of you to notice."

Zack rubs his shoulder, then stretches, loosening up his muscles. He probably should have stretched before he sprinted across town, considering he spent the last few hours cramped moving from train to train to get to Midgar. Too late now. 20-20 vision in hindsight.

There is an awkward silence. Zack looks around uncomfortably while the man in the suit stares at him, studying him. Unable to stand the silence any longer Zack points to himself. "I'm Zack."

The man's head tilts again, curiously this time. "Tseng." A pause. "How did you get those bruises, Zack?"

Zack's demeanor suddenly changes. He shifts uncomfortably, looking everywhere but at Tseng, blue eyes practically dark blue in the limited light the breaches the smog covering Midgar. Stiffly and extremely uncomfortable, Zack shifts.

Finally, Zack looks up and Tseng and smiles. It's tight and forced but not unkind. "I didn't do anything bad."

Tseng's eyes sharpened. "That wasn't what I asked."

Zack shrugs. "I... did what had to be done." His hands clenched tight, the bruised knuckles discoloring from the strain. His eyes flicker up to Tseng's. Blue on brown. "I made sure that a disgusting someone didn't get his way anymore. That's all." Zack's eyes flicker up to the Shinra logo hanging over the glass doors of the main entrance. His smile returns, more naturally. "I got to go. Thanks so much for the talk."

Tseng's face returns nutrual. "I see."

Practically bouncing in excitement, Zack darts up the stairs pausing at the top, he turns to look down at Tseng. "Do you work here?" A single curt nod. "Is the Cadet... sign up guy in there?"

Tseng's face is unchanged. "The registry officer?"

"Yeah! I'm signing up for SOLDIER!" Zack beams, previous dark atmosphere is completely forgotten.

"He should be on the second level in the main lobby, by the elevator. A desk is set up."

Zack is shaking in excitement. "Awesome. Thanks a ton, Tseng! See you around!" Zack spins around and runs inside. It's so bright and clean inside. The room is bustling, people going from room to room, coming off the elevator and getting on one. People loitering around in the lobby. Two women behind a large desk are filtering calls throughout the company. So much is going on. It's exciting.

His eyes hone in on the elevators behind the front desk. Zack makes his way over to the stairs and climbs up them, vibrating in excitement. There is two men dressed in Second Class SOLDIER purple outfits. They were talking quietly to one another when Zack got close, they stopped. Immediately, they seize him up but the bubbly raven haired boy doesn't notice.

"Hi! Do I sign up here?"

The one on the left nods. The one on the right asks, "Exactly how old are you?"

Zack picks up the pen, about to sign his name, when he remembers the note he's suppose to give to his Instructor. He pulls the crinkled note from his pocket and hands it over, leaning down to scribble his name down. Both Instructors read over the note and look to the boy. It's not exactly uncommon to have a boy sign up that's younger then the specified age, but it is rare enough to make note.

"Cadet Zackary Fair," the one on right says, folding the note and putting it in his pocket. "Welcome to the Cadet program. You are the first to arrive. I'm Third Class Instructor William Torin. I'll be in charge of your hand to hand combat training."

Zack tenses to stop himself from jumping up and yelling out, "Ya-hoo!"

"And I'm Third Class Instructor Gavin Taylor. I'll be your War History and strategy teacher," says the other Instructor, taking Zack's hand once he finishes shaking Instructor Torin's hand.

Zack claps his hands together in an attempt to keep them from shaking. "This is so exciting, thanks so much!"

"Tell me," Instructor Taylor says, shifting his stance wide. A very strong military stance, one Zack can't wait to learn. So official! "Why do you want to be in SOLDIER?"

"It's my dream," Zack says simply, stepping aside as more boy begin to show up. "I'm going to become a hero!" Zack is glowing with pride and passion.

"Sign here," Instructor Torin says to the boy in line before turning his attention to Zack. "You and just about every other boy. What makes you so special?"

Any other person would feel a little put out by his words, but Zack didn't see them like that. In his head, all he heard was an honest question because the truth was right in those words. Lots of other boys wanted to be heros just like him and each of them has to see themselves as more special than the others in order to get that goal, right? But not Zack. He's not dumb, he knows there really isn't anything special about the fourteen year old boy from Gongaga.

"Nothing yet," he admits, smiling lightly. "But I'm going to try my absolute hardest and be the best hero there ever was!"

With their masks in place, Zack couldn't tell their reaction, but the boy next to Zack gave him a withering look. Zack didn't notice it, his eyes glazed over thinking about the glory and fun that is yet to come.

"Good luck," Instructor Taylor says genuinely. He said it every year to all of the hopefuls. And meant it every time.

* * *

The first few days of training were easy. It wasn't even really training, just learning the very simple basics before full swing. The Cadets learned how to properly hold themselves while they salute and when they are at ease. Teaching them the difference between "at ease" and "as you were". Which Zack thought was really simple to understand but they had to explain for a reason, Zack supposes.

They also delve into where they were going to bunk, who they were going to stand by in formation and how to make their beds. The hardest was probably remembering the strange schedule. Get up at six. Breakfast and showers until nine. Classes until two. Lunch till three. More classes until five. Then lights out at ten. And for the first couple of weeks, free time for the rest of the day. But once specialty abilities appear, more classes will be added. Sapping their five hour free time's life force until it's a shriveled up to a two hour time span.

The first _actual _day of training was so exciting. Zack's first class of the day was conditioning. Just to build up stamina and muscle. Zack and the rest of the cadets, a group of thirty in this class, stand in line. Zack is grinning so wide it almost looks like his face is going to split in half.

"Zack," Kunsel, his bunkmate and newly appointed best friend, says quietly as Instructor Kalegrin drones on and on about safety while working out, "Can you please stop that?"

"Stop what?" Zack asks back just as quietly, excitement twisting at his gut.

"You're about to vibrate through the floor."

"No way! I'm just... excited shaking."

"So... vibrating through the floor?"

Zack clenches his thighs to stop is frighteningly fast shifting. His hips do actually hurt a little from his swaying. Oh... oh no, Zack can feel his leg jiggling now. When he thinks of trying to calm down, adrenaline sling shots through his body. He's never had to stay still like this for so long.

"Dude, Zack, chill," Kunsel says, barely tilting his head in the other boy's direction.

"Something the matter, Cadets?" Instructor Kalegrin asks, stepping up in front of Zack and Kunsel.

Zack freezes, willing his body to cease all forms of unnecessary movement, but against his will his toes start bobbing up and down and the adrenaline is like fire in his veins.

"Sir, no, sir!" Zack and Kunsel chorus, but the Instructors keen eyes are staring down at Zack's wiggling feet, watching as it works its way up his body and soon he's shifting again. Almost faster than before.

"Doesn't quite look like nothing, Cadet...?" He trails off, raising an eyebrow.

After a moment's hesitation, Zack realizes what he's waiting for. "Oh, uh, Zack Fair, sir!"

Kunsel blinks really slowly in Zack peripheral. Instructor Kalegrin sounds amused as he asks, "Something in your pants, son? Ants perhaps?"

Zack looks confused. "No, sir. Why would I have ants in my pants, sir?"

Instructor Kalegrin twists around to look back at a bunch of figures standing in an observation room. Well, he knew they were there behind a slab of a mirror. But he knew they could probably hear this. He shakes his head and looks back at Zack. "You tell me, Cadet Fair. Is there a particular reason why you're so uncomfortable?"

"I'm not uncomfortable, sir." Zack laughs, eyes twinkling. "I'm excited."

Kalegrin steps closer. "For what, Fair?"

Zack smiles. "To begin training."

"Hm, from where do you hail?"

Zack makes a face, tilting his head to look up. Instructor Kalegrin and Kunsel, along with all of the other Cadets watching the exchange follow his gaze upward to the ceiling, confused. There was nothing on the ceiling of any particular interest.

"Cadet, the hell are you looking at?" Kalegrin asks, now looking back at Zack.

"For the hail, sir," Zack says, looking equally as perplexed.

Kalegrin blinks. "What hail?" His face falls bland when he realizes. "Cadet, look at me." Zack obeys. "There is no hail. I asked where you came from."

"Oh!" Zack looks relieved by that. "I come from Gongaga."

"And it shows," Kalegrin says, shaking his head. There is some light laughter around him. But Zack doesn't look put off.

"It's really beautiful this time of year and I bet you'd like all the sun," Zack says, then hastily adds, "sir."

Taking another step closer, Kalegrin asks, "What makes you think I enjoy the sun?"

Zack looks thoughtful. "I don't know. I guess since you come from somewhere other than Midgar, you probably do. There is, sadly, a lot less sun here than anywhere else. Well, except under the plates." A pause. "I'm thinking Junon."

Suddenly intrigued, Kalegrin asks, "And what makes you think I'm not from Midgar but Junon, of all the other places?"

"Your tan," Zack says. Then as an afterthought, "and I guess it's the way you talk too. My dad once took us up to Junon. All the people there talk the same. All real nice people from what I met but most had this tough exterior to them too."

Instructor Kalegrin just stares at Zack for a long moment, really looking at him, before he barks out a laugh. "Good deduction there, Fair, you sure you ain't here to try out for the Turks?"

"Turks?" Zack looks confused by that name. "No, I want to be a SOLDIER. First Class, especially."

Kalegrin shakes his head turning on his heel to head back a ways from them. "Well, this should be an interesting batch," he says more to himself than to the boys collected in front of him. "Now, I'm going take you through some stretches to warm you up, once your done you have free reign to work on whatever you want. The last half hour of class is going to be drills, clear?"

"Sir, yes, sir!" The cadets sound.

After the strenuously slow stretching they are given free reign and totally out of his control, Zack jumps up with a loud cheer and ran for the track that stretches around the perimeter of the room. Kunsel follows behind Zack.

The raven haired boy starts jogging around the room, laughing to himself, occationally speeding up and then cartwheeling. Kunsel laughs every single time. Zack grins back at him, having the time of his life. He keeps jogging, slowing down a bit so that Kunsel can catch up.

"Dude, you're like an energizer bunny with a little too much juice," Kunsel laughs breathlessly, jogging next to Zack. "Just, let me know when you decide to spin around like that again so I can get the hell out of the way."

"It's called a cartwheel, Kunsel."

"And, how exactly do you know how to do one, Fair?"

"A girl from Gongaga taught me." Zack halts in front of the mirror, tilting his head slightly. The grin falls from his face. "Hey Kunsel, why is this here?"

Kunsel stops next to Zack, also tilting his head. "You know, I don't know. Maybe to make sure we're moving right?" At Zack's confused look he adds, "Like when working out, to make sure that we aren't twisting something weird maybe. That's what I was told."

Zack steps away from it, shaking his head. "Man, Kunsel, everything here is so weird in comparison to home. We never had work out rooms there. The great outdoors was your work out." Zack began to do squats, Kunsel laughs again at the sight of him. "What? These are good for you."

"Looks like you're preparing to jump really high."

Zack rolls his eyes and continues to do squats, his mind wondering. In the mirror he can see the reflection behind him. He can see Instructor Kalegrin walking around, talking with other cadets, showing them the proper way to do things or give them advice. At one point he even move them so that they were moving exactly how the excercise required without unnecessary strain. He's was curt and a little rough with them, but Zack couldn't doubt that not only was he a good teacher, but he was a kind one.

This is it. His training has begun. He's going to work harder than anyone and impress all the people that he needs to, go on all the difficult missions and make his dream come true. And should he have made some awesome new friends along the way, that's only a perk. And even though he just met Kunsel, he really likes him. The guys is as goofy as Zack and not at all bothered by the fact that Zack is almost two years younger than him.

On impulse, he goes to pull off his shirt, getting it half way off, only to stop. He gingerly touches the bruise on his ribs before he drops his shirt and continues squats, plucking at the bottom of his shirt, trying to air it out. It's bad enough that people can see the bruises on his face and arms, but he the ones on his main body are the worst looking. He doesn't want people thinking he can't handle this life, because that's not the case. Not at all.

"Zack, can you tell me why you're all covered in bruises?" Kunsel asks next to him, doing identical squats as Zack, but at a slower pace. Zack looks at him through the reflection of the mirror.

"It's nothing all that interesting. I just got into a fight with a really bad guy. No big." Zack looks away from his reflection, cheeks darkening slightly.

Kunsel slows a little more. "No way, Zack. It's a big deal. You're just a kid with a bunch of bruises all over you. Did someone back home do it? Like... a parent or... you know... someone?" Kunsel's eyebrows are pulled together in concern. Zack twists his head around to stare wide eyed at him.

"You think my dad did this? No way, man, my dad is way too nice and wouldn't hurt a fly. It was just some guy from out of town," Zack says, looking down at his feet. Feeling uncomfortable, he adds, "He was doing something bad and I stepped in. He was a lot stronger than I thought but I got a few good hits in. The only part that matters is that he's probably going to think twice from now on." Zack forces a laugh. "He must have been embarrassed to have been caught off guard by a kid."

Kunsel doesn't crack a smile. "Was this guy... like a SOLDIER?"

"No!" Zack says quickly, smiling thinly at Kunsel. "But wouldn't that just add to the embarrassment? I mean, a grown man getting beat up by a kid is one thing, but if that grown man was a SOLDIER? Awkward!" Zack laughs weird and forces himself to stop. "Come on man, would I want to be in a program while running the risk of running into him again?"

Kunsel relaxes, letting out a little laugh. "Yeah, that would be really silly."

"Yeah," Zack says, gazing at his black eye in the mirror. "Silly."


	2. Pre-test fright

**Author's note: I am basking in the positive reaction I'm getting from this story so far. I'm going to admit that I'm not all that funny but I hope it's somewhat amusing. Sorry about my shitty sense of humor. Anyway, thanks for all the reviews so far! Let me know what you think! Enjoy!**

**Warnings: None.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the story idea and OCs.**

**Word count: 4,739**

A week has passed and Zack has very powerful mixed feelings about his training. On one side, he is completely excited for each and every day to come. He's ready to learn the next thing and each night leaves his muscles pleasantly burning. He loves the actions and activities, loves interacting with the people. But that's only on the physical side of it, when it comes the class side. Zack dreads every moment of it.

Zack liked school, he had horrible difficulties sitting still during classes but he still enjoyed them, but he always had horrible grades. Zack always knew the material by the time of the test, but when he sits in front of the paper, he blanks. His mind shuts down and panic sets in. It never fails. It's like that nasty evil behemoth king stole his memory the moment his eyes landed on the page, like it did for Clucky the Chocobo in his favorite t.v. show as a kid.

So when Instructor Evans of his Mako: Forms and Properties teacher announced, "Test next week!" Zack wanted to fall through the floor forever. Shinra classes didn't have homework. They had lots of tests. In Gongaga, Zack's homework being complete was the only way he was able to get through school. Here in Shinra, they just expect their people to get the good grades.

But this is different. This isn't Gongaga. Zack is going to be able to take simple tests that he kills himself every time studying for and not bomb later. Zack is going to do great this time around. He's going to relax and not psych himself out.

"Are you okay?" Kunsel asks on their way to lunch. "You're face is like completely colorless."

Zack adjusts his books under one arm. "I'm just not that keen on tests is all."

Kunsel shakes his head laughing. "Wait, are you telling me that _tests_ are your kryptonite? If the great Zack Fair can conquer a little bit of test phobia, he will be an unstoppable force!"

Zack laughs a little, feeling a little down, wondering (hoping) that it would be that easy. The two make their way into the large cafeteria. Zack takes Kunsel's books and bounces across the room to their usual table, drop the books off and bounce all the way back to Kunsel before the latter makes it to the long line. When Zack returns to Kunsel's side, the man is shaking his head, an amused smile on his face.

"What?" Zack says, smiling.

"Nothing, it's just that sometimes I feel like I'm taking advantage of you. And then sometimes it feels like you're taking advantage of me," Kunsel says, turning to look ahead.

Zack grins, looking ahead. "We have an awesome relationship."

"Tell me about it. So will you need help studying?"

Zack's first instinct is to say no, that he wouldn't need it but then the prospect of spending more time with his best friend is a plus. Zack never much needed to study but maybe it could be fun.

"Sure. But you have to bring food."

Kunsel rolls his eyes. "Good Goddess, Zack. If you could ever stop eating, I would be amazed."

Zack snorts, grabbing a tray. "Forgive me if I enjoy stuffing my gut. I'm a growing boy."

"Yeah, I've notice you getting a little soft around the edges."

Zack pauses. "Is that a fat joke?"

Kunsel thanks the lady who gives him his macarroni and heads to his seat. "In more or less words."

"The hell, Kunsel?"

"Hey, Zack, wait until you're a teenager before you start cursing, little boy."

"Hey, Kunsel, do more than 100 push ups before you start mud slinging, lazy bum."

They both sit across from each other and eat. Laughing and joking occasionally. The next class was hand to hand with Instructor Torin and Zack is always excited for that class. He is always having fun in it. It makes him feel more like a SOLDIER. All of his wounds have began to change back to their normal skin color, fading away and leaving the skin unblemished beneath. It's exhilarating to finally be able to move around without that little tinge of pain in his side.

Zack is practically bouncing while they wait for the class to start. Instructor Torin just stares at Zack, bouncing and skipping and swaying while he waits for the rest of his class to pile in. Zack begins to do squats. In his peripheral, Zack sees two of his fellow Cadets munching on something. At first, he thought of nothing, it didn't register as much in his mind. Until he caught whiff of exactly what it was. A quick look at them confirmed it.

Seizing the opportunity, Zack makes his way over to them. "Hey guys."

One of them, Gabe Canden, a hazel eyed, brown haired boy, looks up at the approaching raven haired boy. "What's up, Zack?" The other, James Helker, sandy blond hair and ocean blue eyes, just offers a little wave.

"I feel like in the long week that we've known each other, we are close enough for me to tell you guys that, while I'm all for gummys in any way, shape, or form-except worms." At their confused look, Zack continues, "As a kid I had my first time eating gummys in worm form. My first and only gummy worm was a worm alright. So let's just say since that abhorrent moment in my life I've had an unhealthy fear of worms so..." he trails off, gesturing vaguely at the bag of gummy worms.

Gabe is grinning while James' lips are pressed tightly to keep a smile from splitting his face in half. While still grinning like a goofball, Gabe says, "So, now that we have this bit of dirt on you, we can hang it over your head for the rest of your life?"

"No, Gabe," James laughs, finally relaxing his face. "I think we should wait and use it when Zack is older and a great big goddamn hero. Wouldn't hurt to have some leverage over him when he's big and famous."

"Good idea," Gabe nods, snickering. "Okay, for you Zack, we'll put them away. For now."

"But if we need something to use against you on Halloween don't be surprised if worms rear their ugly heads," James says, putting bag of gummy worms into his backpack. "That or when you achieve the rank of First Class."

Zack shakes his head. "If you really want to see a newly appointed SOLDIER First Class cry at his inauguration ceremony, that's fine." Both Gabe and James laugh at that. With a little wave, Zack heads back over to Kunsel who was speaking to another Cadet. Instructor Torin steps up in front of Zack, a friendly banter had arisen between them the past few days.

"Afraid of worms, Cadet Fair?"

Zack grins at him. "Unfortunately, yes. It's a tragic story. Wanna hear?"

"You speak loud enough, Cadet. And your voice travels far."

Zack's eyebrows pull together. "Are you saying I'm a loud mouth?"

Instructor Torin shakes his head. "No, Cadet. I would never say anything about the obnoxiously loud volume in which you speak at."

"Good," Zack says. "Cause I feel like that-oh. Can you say that to me?"

"I just did, Cadet." Before Zack can respond with something witty, Instructor Torin turns to address the amassing class. "Alright, Cadets before we get started I want to point out that in the event that we ever need to fight off Tremors, Cadet Fair will be of no assistance to us." The class laughs. Zack pouts and looks away, foot tapping.

"Partner up," Torin continues, amused. "Continue moves from yesterday."

"You alright, Zack?" Kunsel says, grinning. "You need a moment to think about your life choices? Find out at what point all of this went wrong?"

Zack gives Kunsel a look. "If by 'this' you mean letting people into my personal business? I think that a little vulnerability is good. Shows people that I'm human. And humans," he turns to look at the other cadets as well as Instructor Torin, "Can have irrational fears. There is no shame in it! And people who laugh at those who share such vulnerabilities, are just shitty people!"

Zack grins happily at the snickers at his back. "Okay, Kunsel, let's go."

"Aye aye!" Kunsel laughs, follow Zack over to the mats. They both fall into defensive crouch. Kunsel and Zack circle each other, launching half hearted attempts to grab one another in favor of talking.

"Are you seriously afraid of worms, Zack?"

"Kunsel, if I was any more serious I would be Instructor Groven," Zack says.

Kunsel launches at Zack, the younger boy slips out of his grasp, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

"Zack, Instructor Groven is only really serious because if he joked around with you like all our other Instructors, he really would have killed us when he almost fused two opposite materia together. Need I remind you what happened?"

Zack rolls his eyes. "We were just playing around. I just asked if it was possible to fuse two materia of equal but opposite power."

"Yeah, okay, I'll give you that. And everything would have been different if you had handed him two materia of equal but opposite power that were, like level one, not the mastery materia that you got from the rack that he specifically told us to keep away from."

"Oh come on, Kunsel. It wasn't that bad."

"You gave him Summons!"

"So? They were of equal but opposite power!"

"It was the ice queen Shiva and the fire god Ifrit!"

Zack shakes his head, trying to hold back a smile. Sweat building up on his brow. "I seriously think that you're overreacting about that entire thing. It was a child's mistake. I'm older and more experienced."

"That was two days ago!"

"48 hours can change a man, Kunsel." Zack waggles his eyebrows at his own words, letting out a light laugh.

Kunsel rolls his eyes. "Then show me how much you've grown, Fair."

Zack grins. "Good idea!" He lunges forward, faster than Kunsel and grabs his hand, spinning around and tossing him onto the floor. Sprawled out on his back, Kunsel gasps and looks up at Zack.

"Ow, dude. You just flipped me."

Zack kneels down. "I know. Isn't this fun?"

"No. Not really."

Zack bounces up, laughing loudly. "That's the spirit!"

Kunsel groans in pain and swipes his leg, knocking Zack's out from under him. Luckily, Zack head and back connect with the hideous blue mat, but it still knocked the wind out of him. Both lay there, staring at the ceiling. Finally, Zack starts laughing. A light, breathless one, but a laugh none the less.

"Let's do that again."

Kunsel groans louder, a smile on his face.

* * *

"...so when I was two, I jumped off the chair. Fucked up my arm. Now it bends all weird," Zack heard Gabe say when he finally put his books away from him. Too much studying for one night. He stretches his arms over his head, his back cracking. He scoots off his bed and walks over to the small group of boys gathered in a cluster around some of the bunks. Zack sits down next to Gabe. The barracks is lined with six rows with ten bunks, one atop of another, creating sixty beds. For sixty cadets. All cramped into this small space.

"Sounds like quite the story," Kunsel says across the group, laying on his stomach on a boy named Chase Mattison's bed. Chase, black hair and light brown eyes, darker complexion than most others in the Cadet Program, sitting up straight next to him. "So let me guys, broke the arm in two places?"

Gabe laughs. "Yeah, my parents were freaking out."

"You shouldn't have jumped, dumbass," Kunsel laughs. Some of the other boys laugh or snicker along side him.

"What about you, Kunsel? Ever broke something?" Chase asks.

Kunsel shakes his head, running a head through messy brown hair. "My heart once, but that's a tragic story for a different time." He lays on his back, looking at them upside down, hands over his heart, feigning pain.

More laughs.

"What about you, Zack?" Another boy named Kaji Holmes. A boy half Wutaian with dark brown hair but unusual light blue eyes.

Zack scratches the back of his neck, laughing sheepishly. "Uh, I did, but it's a little embarrassing."

"Ooh, goodie,"Gabe grins. "I'm starting to think that all of Zack's life is like one big embarrassing joke. I'm just going to say, if there is anymore like the gummy worms one, I'll never stop listening." There are some more laughs at that. Zack rolls his eyes.

"Come on, that's a personal true story. I thought that story would help bring us together a little bit, excuse me for wanting us to all be friends," Zack says blandly, grinning a moment later. "But seriously, I was like eight or something with Gongaga fever. My ma and pa stepped out for like, a minute and I got it into my head to get some fresh air. So I went to roof, got dizzy and fell off. It was one of those things that I fell one way and all I got was two broken legs and shattered heel while if I fell a slightly different way, I'd be dead. So, story over." Zack shrugs.

"Dude, Zack, I can't tell if you have a really sucky life or a really lucky one," Chase says, shaking his head. Zack grins.

"I'd like to believe I'm really lucky."

Kunsel and the rest look around thoughtfully. Another half hour is dedicated to strictly going around the circle talking about times when they broke stuff. Arms and legs, fingers and toes, even some of them getting bad head injuries. Zack, while a wild child, was built tough and didn't have any other stories as bad as when he was eight, but now that he's going to be doing more dangerous things than simply running around Gongaga where, other than falling off roofs, the worst that could happen was skinned palms or knees. Typical life for a young boy like Zack.

After a little while, Zack excuses himself to head to his bunk at the back of the room. He falls onto his bed, muscles aching from the work out earlier that day. He throws a hand over his eyes and forces himself to relax. Each night, he lays in bed, looking up at the bottom of the bunk above him and wonders about home. How his parents are doing. What's going on at home. If they miss him or think about him as much as he does them. And sometimes, the little dark thought comes to him, what if it was wrong to leave Gongaga? But then anger would coarse through him.

Anger that isn't like Zack. He knows himself well enough to know that he isn't an angry person. He doesn't have a lot of rage in him. If any at all. Zack is quick and easy to forgive those that wrong him. Zack knows that he is too trusting and too forgiving but it's in his nature. So whenever anger burns in his veins, it's strange and wrong somehow.

Zack turns onto his side, away from the sound of the boys laughing and joking. He closes his eyes and lets out a long winded sigh, trying to relax. The test is tomorrow, all he needs is a good night sleep and to stay focused and he'll be fine. Unease settles like bricks in Zack's gut, his throat tightening, heart rate escalating slightly. Zack takes a few slow breaths, trying to calm down. Everything will be okay. The words repeated like a mantra in his head.

_Everything_ will be okay.

Everything will _be_ okay.

Everything will be _okay_.

With that in mind, Zack slips off into a light but fitful slumber. The next morning at six all of the boys get up and shuffle about getting ready for the day, there is light murmuring about the test today and it did nothing but make Zack feel even more sick to his stomach, he dressed and ran out not even waiting for Kunsel. Zack walks into the cafeteria, gets one sniff of the half cooked grub that he's trying to grow accustom to since he joined Shinra, felt like he was going to barf everywhere and turned to go to class instead.

The room is empty when Zack gets to the large gym. He's got the next couple of hours to himself before class starts. Zack drops his books in the corner of the room and untucks his tee-shirt form his loose work out pants and walks around the room, stretching out his arms and back, then falling to the ground and stretching out his legs, making sure to keep his brain blissfully blank. Apprehension about the test still makes his stomach feel like it's twisting keeps him from even considering going to eat.

Zack stands back up and jogs around the room in silence. Listening to his own laboring breaths and his sneakers slapping against the floor. Focusing on those two things rather than his own thoughts. When his mind starts to drift back to the upcoming test, he drops to the floor and starts doing push ups. A trail of sweat working its way down his spine and building on his forehead.

"Ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen..." Zack huffs under his breath, focusing on the droplets of sweat building up on the mats beneath him. "Twenty-five, twenty-six, twenty-seven, twenty-eight..."

"If you push yourself too hard you'll burn out."

Zack freezes for a second at the voice, slowly pushing himself into a sitting position and twisting around to see a man behind him. Heart racing and cheeks flushed with color, Zack smiles lightly. "Oh hi. I'm sorry?"

The man walks over to him, boots heavy against the floor, and kneels down in front of the sweating boy. "I said, if you push yourself too hard you'll burn out."

Zack takes in the man broad shoulders, long legs, bare arms, near shoulder length dark hair, much like Zack's. But what really got Zack's attention was the beautiful bright blue, mako enhanced eyes. Glowing like two beacons even in the brightly lit gym. A little bit of facial hair along his chin. Zack slowly pulls his eyes back up to the man's. He's definitely a SOLDIER. It's one thing to read about SOLDIER eyes, another thing to see pictures in magazines, but something entirely different to see them in real life. They are beautiful.

And I'm going to have some just like it, Zack thinks, smiling lightly.

"Thank you. I'll be okay," Zack says.

"Why don't you rest a moment? Your heart is racing. You've been running around nonstop for almost an hour only to drop right away to do push ups. You need to give your body a few minutes to rest." The man shifts his weight on his hunches, but otherwise he keeps the same position, arms draped over his knees and dangling between his legs. His face is impassive, like he's speaking about the weather, but his eyes aren't unkind.

Zack beams. "Yeah, sure. I guess I lost track of time."

The two sit in silence, Zack's eyes trailing around the room willing his racing heart and heavy breathing to slow down. Zack's first instinct was to ask the man how he knew Zack's heart was racing but the obvious answer was staring him in the face-literally. The man is enhanced with mako. That is so cool.

"Um, so thanks for the advice. I guess I'm just a little nervous," Zack laughs lightly to make it seem like no big deal. His eyes finding the mako blue again. "Oh, how rude of me. I didn't introduce myself. I bet my ma would be like, 'Zackary, you can't just pretend to have a proper conversation with someone without an introduction.' I'm Zack. Zack Fair." He holds out a hand to the man, hoping that his palm isn't too sweaty.

The man takes it. "Angeal Hewley. You mom sounds like a brilliant woman."

Zack laughs. "She is. Just don't tell her I said that, she'll complain that I'm not going through my angsty teenage phase yet." At Angeal's curious look, Zack explains, "My mom tried to explain it to me. Apparently I'm suppose to be her baby boy up until my angsty teenage phase and hate her for a year or two and then become her loyal and of child baring aged son. She's crazy." Zack rolls his eyes with mirth.

Angeal tilts his head slightly. "I suppose mothers are like that."

"I'm sure the inbreeding didn't help."

"What?" Angeal's face is twisted in a mixture of confusion and surprise.

Zack laughs. "I'm just kidding! You should've seen your face!" Angeal's face falls back into neutrality with a slight hint of amusement. "Man, it's like you actually believed that! Come on, if I was actually a subject of inbreeding, do you really think I would admit it to anyone?"

"I suppose not."

"Listen," Zack says, face sobering slightly. "Thank you."

"For?" Angeal asks.

Zack gestures around vaguely. "I was really running myself into the ground. Thanks for knocking me out of it."

Angeal shifts again, eyes flicker to the side before settling back on Zack. "And why would you be working yourself like this?"

Zack purses his lips, scratching the back of his neck. "I... um... I'm just a little nervous for a test today. That's all." Zack looks to where Angeal's eyes flickered to see the doorway he probably came in through to see another man standing there. Arms across his broad chest, mako blue eyes staring through half lids, sand colored hair pushed back out of his eyes, probably with jell. Next to him, leaning against the wall is probably the largest sword Zack has ever seen. It's probably bigger than he is and probably twice his weight. "Wow."

Angeal looks over his shoulder at the man and sword for a moment before looking back at Zack. "Did you study for your test?"

At first Zack didn't seem to hear him, but he slowly pulled his eyes away from the impressive sword to Angeal's face. "Huh? Oh, yeah. I did."

Angeal nods once, sharp and sure. "Then you should be fine. Have a little faith in yourself."

Zack really looks at him, almost for the first time. His face is expressionless but his eyes are swimming and kind. Zack can almost see the mako moving around in the man's irises. Suddenly feeling better at the man's words, he beams. "Yeah, okay. Thank you. I think I will try."

"Good." Angeal stands, towering over Zack. "Now go get something to eat. There is no way you will be of solid mind for training or testing if you work on an empty stomach. You hear me, Cadet Fair?"

Zack nods, standing as well, shaking off the slight dizziness that overcomes him. His stomach grumbles a bit, in favor of the idea of eating. "Yes, sir." Zack says on instinct before he can really think about it. He turns to go grab his books before freezing once more. He spins around, looking at the man's chest, paling. "Sir!" He snaps into a stiff salute.

Angeal pauses, half turned away. He looks at Zack, blinking once. "At ease, Cadet."

"That is so embarrassing," Zack mutters under his breath before straightening up to look at Angeal sheepishly. "I'm sorry, sir. I meant no disrespect."

Angeal stares at Zack for a long moment before nodding. "No disrespect taken. As you were, Cadet."

"Thank you, sir," Zack says softly, watching as he heads to the door where the other First Class. He grabs the sword and puts it on his back like it didn't weigh a thing. Zack couldn't keep the awe off his face. They haven't started using swords yet, but when they did, Zack really wants to use one like that. After the two disappear behind the door, Zack curses his stupidity while gathering his books.

That man was a SOLDIER! And not just any SOLDIER, a First Class SOLDIER! Zack made a major fool of himself in front of that SOLDIER. That is so embarrassing. What if he gets kicked out because he didn't salute a First when he entered the room? Well, Angeal said there was no disrespect taken, but what if he lied? What if this is the end of Zack's career? A week into the Cadet Program, kicked out because he didn't salute a commanding officer?

However much he felt better earlier because Angeal's words are gone. But Zack can't rationalize not going to get food now that his stomach is rumbling. And what if he decided to not go and Angeal came back and saw that he disobeyed a direct order? He would be kicked out for sure. Zack's feet carry him out of the gym, the cool air feeling good on his heated flesh only to stop. Wait, did Angeal say something about him running for an hour or something before doing push ups? How would he know that? Unless... unless he has some kind of psychic powers.

Zack pauses, eyes wide. "Do First Class SOLDIERs have psychic abilities? Woah, that is so cool!" Zack hurried his way to the bustling cafeteria, making his way through the collection of tables to the one he and Kunsel usually sit at in the corner of the room. Kunsel is there with Gabe and James. Zack drops his stuff on the table with a loud bang, making all the table occupants jump.

"Shit, Zack, you scared me," Kunsel snaps, hand over his heart.

"Where were you, Zack?" Gabe asks, taking a bite of eggs as Zack plops down in front of him, next to Kunsel, ignoring the brown haired man's glare.

"I was running in the gym, anyway, get this. I think that the First Class have psychic powers."

The table is quiet. All three boys stare at him like he started speaking Wutaian.

"You think so?" Kunsel finally says, eyebrow raised. Zack nods. "And, uh, why is this?"

"See I was training and..." Zack pauses, wondering if he was allowed to speak about his encounter with Angeal in the gym or if that was grounds for expulsion. Man, they have to be more clear in the handbook on what will get you kicked out and what wont. "And... the idea just... came to me..." he lies, dropping his head.

Kunsel stares at him, disbelievingly. "Uh huh. Zack, has anyone ever told you that you are a horrible liar?"

"Yes," Zack admits. "But that doesn't matter. So what do you think? SOLDIERs being able to have psychic abilities?"

Kunsel gives a droll look at Gabe and James. The lattermost shrugs his shoulders. "It could be. You never know, I guess."

Zack beams. "See? James knows what he's talking about!"

Gabe rolls his eyes. "I think the idea is crazy but I guess we won't know until we make it to First."

The thought had all four of them grinning at on another. Zack is blissfully aware that since he spoke with Angeal, he's not too concerned anymore about his test. Maybe, just maybe, he'll be fine. Just like Angeal said. SOLDIERs can't be wrong, can they?


	3. Lied

**Author's note: Another update. I kind of had a little too much fun writing out Zack's panic attack. So, yeah. :D Anyway, thanks for reading this far! Let me know what you think! Enjoy!**

**Warnings: None.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the story idea and OCs.**

**Word count: 4,779**

SOLDIERs can lie.

Angeal lied.

Zack is in his Mako: Forms and Properties class, sweating up a storm. His entire body is shaking and-is his arm tingling? Is Zack having a heart attack? Oh, Goddess, he is. Isn't he a little too young to be having a heart attack? What was it that his ma always said, "Zack, if you don't eat all of your vegetables you will have to sit in front of the t.v for one whole hour, without moving do you hear me?" Wait, that has nothing to do with heart attacks, that was just something that his ma always said to him to make sure he ate all of his vegetables.

But this pain in his arm has to be a heart attack right? Well, it's no so much _pain_ as it is some kind of weird tingling sensation. No, wait. It's just tired from him shaking it subconsciously. What in that world is that sound? Dear Gaia, could Kunsel breath any louder? If he doesn't stop with that excessive wheezing, Zack is going to throw a desk at him. They're friends, good friends, but there is a point in every friendship were a desk might have to be thrown. And Zack didn't expect it to be this soon in theirs.

Doesn't he realize that Zack needs to concentrate if he's going to have any hope of completing this test?

That wheezing sound is grating on his nerves, he opens his mouth about to tell Kunsel to _shut the fuck up_, when it stops. Zack waits a moment, straining his ears to see if he could still hear it. Nothing. He closes his mouth and it continues. Opens it and the noise stops. Oh, it's him wheezing, not Kunsel. Awkward. He was about to throw a desk at an innocent man. That would have been embarrassing to explain. Zack takes a deep breath and holds it.

What's that noise?

Tap, tap, tap.

Zack glances around the room, seeing people shifting but nothing to indicate where the tapping is coming from. Scribbling away diligently on their tests. How can they not hear that?

Tap, tap, tap, tap.

Zack's eyes drop to the floor. It's his right leg jiggling up and down, the heel of his foot slapping against the hard floor. He forces himself to stop it. How come it sounds like a jackhammer on concrete to him, and yet everyone else can continue with their tests like nothing is happening?

Is it raining? Inside the building? Why is Zack wet all over? Is that him sweating? Oh gross. He's going to definitely need a shower after this. Okay, now his head is dizzy. Zack exhales, not even feeling slightly better. He has to blink multiple times to get the black spots on his vision to go away.

Is that the clock ticking? How much time does he have left? Did someone just flip to the next page in their test? Are they done? How much time does Zack have left to finish this test? It feels like it's been hours. Is he almost done with this abomination?

He glances down at the paper and a lump forms in his throat. Who the hell is Kcaz and why the hell hasn't he done a single question on the test yet? What the hell language is this damn test written in? How do they expect Zack to take this test if he can't read the language? Zack would be inclined to believe it's counter-productive. Another glance at the paper and Zack's seeing what appears to be ancient Wutaian hieroglyphs. Now what the hell is he suppose to do? He conveniently forgot to brush up on his study of hieroglyphs. To be honest, they all just like messed up block drawings to Zack, like a two year old drew them.

All those articles were right: Getting into the SOLDIER Program is damn near impossible. The prerequisites is astounding. Zack has to seriously consider whether or not it's smart to take the extra classes on preparing for the final at the end of the program. Clearly someone forgot to mention to Zack that he would have to have a whole slew of information on ancient cave drawings or whatever before he joined.

Something snaps. Zack jumps at the sound. Wow, that was loud. Is it storming outside? The weather said nothing about there being a storm today. Why was everyone staring at him? Zack looks down at his hand. His fist is clenched so tight, his knuckles are white. His poor pencil is snapped in half, the plastic leaving little splinters in his hand. A worn out yellow chocobo face staring back at him as if to ask, "Why?" He laughs nervously, it sounded painful to his ears.

"Flimsy thing," he says, dropping the broken remains of his chocobo pencil onto the corner of his desk. The class turns away and continues on their papers. How in the world can they read these alien languages? Oh Lifestream, why is his test a grocery list? How do they expect him to figure this out? What in the world is happening?

Zack digs around in his backpack to grab another mechanical pencil, silently mourning the chocobo pencil he's had since he was ten. His hand hovers over the test once more, trying to get the blurry words to make sense. Zack's eyes flicker over to the brutalized remains of his favorite pencil. It has been through a lot with him. It deserves a proper burial. Probably a Viking. Zack probably has to wait until he's old enough to drink alcohol and learn how to shoot a bow and arrow. And probably get over his fear of fire first.

His chocobo pencil deserves nothing less.

"Cadet?"

Zack blinks, looking up to see Instructor Evan's mako blue eyes staring down at him. "Uh, yes, sir?"

"The bell rang. Class is over."

Zack looks around the room, lump forming in his throat at the sight of the near empty class. Kunsel waiting for him by the door, eyes unreadable. Zack slowly drags his eyes back to his test. The one that is clearly written in Midgarian with the name space filled in with the most sloppy 'Kcaz' the young man has ever seen. Other than that the entirety of the paper is empty. Not a single question is answered. Although there is a strange collection of dots on the right side from when Zack was tapping it with his pencil. The last marks his chocobo pencil will ever leave behind.

Slowly, Zack lowers his trembling hand onto the desk, not trusting himself to not cry. He quickly throws the ugly secondary red pencil and shovels the remains of Chocobo pencil into his backpack and stiffly stands up, unable to look Evans in the eyes as he made his way to the door, shame coloring his face and burning the back of his eyes. It happened again. He knew it was going to happen and it still got him. Angeal had lied. Zack knew the answers. Why couldn't he take the test? What was wrong with him?

"Are you okay?" Kunsel asks. Zack brushes past him, not wanting his new friend to see just how upset Zack really was. He's not a crier. He just shrugs stuff off and moves on with his life but for some reason this hit him a lot harder than anything else. He always got upset in Gonaga when his teachers would ask him why he never studied for his test and stare at him blankly when he insisted that he did.

"Zack? Hey, Zack, are you okay?" Kunsel catches up and looks down at Zack. "Hey, what's wrong?"

Blinking rapidly, Zack forces a smile and looks up at Kunsel. "I'm really tired. I don't... I don't think I did too well on that test." Zack laughs lightly, the noise strange in his ear. Kunsel's eyebrows pull together at the sound. "I'll try harder n-next time." The prospect of there being a next test was very foreboding.

"Are you sure, you're okay?" Kunsel asks, looking worried.

"Yup. See you later, Kunsel! I got to go do something! Bye!" Zack waves and runs off as fast as he can. He could hear Kunsel call out to him but he didn't stop. Thankfully that was his last class of the day. Now he can go shower and be alone for a few hours before bed. He takes a roundabout way to the barracks, avoiding anyone and everyone he can. He drops his books off at his bunk and grabs his toiletries and heads to the shower rooms.

The showers, quiet and empty this time of day, was almost as welcoming as his own mother's embrace. In the two short weeks that Zack has been in Shinra, he hasn't missed his mom quite as much as he does now.

There is two attached rooms separated by a wall leaving a space big enough to get access to the other room. There is about fifty shower stalls in each side of the room. Enough room for all of the cadets this year to shower without having to wait in line. Doesn't mean that there is ever enough hot water to go around but it beats having to wait in line. There is waist high separators for each stall and drains every couples of feet.

Zack goes into the other room all the way to the back side. He hangs up his towel and and new set of clothes before making his way over to the faucet and turns it on, stepping out of the way of the spray. He peels off his nasty clothes and leaves them in a pile on the floor away from the water. Zack's not a shy guy. What little self conscious Zack might have had, pre-Shinra, is gone now. As weird as it sounds, Zack has gotten used to washing himself, naked. In a room, filled with other people, who happens to also be washing themselves... and are also naked.

Zack waits for the water to warm up before stepping under it, letting the water cascade down his back. Zack's chin touches his chest as he closes his eyes. This entire day has been a huge mess. He failed the test he studied so hard for, and he also has to bury a friend. Zack figured he was going to have to wait until he at least steps foot on the battlefield before something like that happens. Maybe Instructor Evens will let him retake the test or something. Can he do that? This entire thing is just stressing Zack out to no end.

Angeal, the First Class SOLDIER, lied. Even though Zack studied really hard, he still failed. He still bombed it in such a way that he'll never recover from. It's one thing to be like, "Aw man, I thought it was B but changed it to C at the last minute" but Zack can't even do that. He didn't fill in a single thing. What in the world was he thinking? His SOLDIER career is going to be over long before it starts. It's going to be one of those things were he is going to bring shame to the Fair family for years to come. He might as well be a subject of inbreeding. At least that he has no control over.

Running a hand through wet hair, while painful, helps Zack get a little bit of his frustration out. That and quite a bit of hair. At least he's not crying. Everything could have been so much worse if he had started crying. He's going to be a SOLDIER someday and SOLDIERs don't cry. But they do lie, apparently.

Zack pouts, crouching down, letting the water wash over him. It's not Angeal's fault that Zack didn't pass but it feels better to be upset about something so human than facing the fact that he's to blame for what went wrong. Still slightly upset, Zack straightens up, grabbing the shampoo bottle and begins to wash his hair. Maybe it's best to just forget about this whole horrible experience.

Zack quickly finishes up and redresses himself, heading back to his barracks with his dirty clothes in hand. It's filled with cadets waiting for food to be done before they can go to the cafeteria. Zack shakes all of the doom and gloom from his posture and forces a smile, making is way over to Kunsel, Gabe, James and Chase after leaving his dirty clothes at the foot of his bed to go clean later.

"Hey," Kunsel says when Zack sits down next to James on the floor. Kunsel and Chase sit on Kunsel's bunk and Gabe is digging around in his bag at the foot of Kunsel's bed, his bunk right above it. "How are you, Zack?"

"Good," Zack says. "Better," he admits. "So what's going on?"

"Planning an outing this weekend," James says. "Thinking about hitting the town. We only have training till two on Saturday and we're off on Sunday. Seems like the best time."

Zack nods. "Can I come along?"

James smiles. "That would be awesome if you could come along, Zack."

"Agreed..." Gabe says, still shuffling around in his pack. "Ah! Got it!" He plops down on Zack's other side and holds out a flyer for Zack to take.

"Shade's teen night?" Zack reads. "Fifteen to nineteen, welcomed and awaited. Saturday the 24th. Enjoy drinks, food and music." Zack looks over at Gabe with a raised eyebrow. "So, tomorrow?"

"Shade's a nightclub," Kunsel explains, nodding.

Zack stares blankly. "I haven't the slightest clue what you just said to me."

"A nightclub is this place were there is music and dancing. Shade's just one of the many nightclubs in Midgar. It's one of those newer ones but I have high hopes for this club," James says, looking down at the flyer. "So, are you in?"

Zack purses his lips. "I'm a horrible dancer," Zack admits then smiles. "But you did say food and I'm all about food."

Kunsel snorts. "Food is definitely the way to Zack's heart. I guess I'm in too."

Zack nods, then stops. "Wait, I'm not fifteen."

"Shut up," Gabe says.

"Why-?"

"I said, shut up, Zack. You're coming."

"But I'm not-"

"I know this. Kunsel knows this and so does James. Chase didn't know this originally but now he does," Gabe says. Chase nods, shrugging his shoulders. "But the guys at the club won't have to nor will they need to know this. Right?"

"I'm not comfortable with lying-"

"Right?"

Zack presses his lips into a fine line before nodding. "Right."

"Awesome," Gabe turns to Kunsel, plucking the flyer from Zack's fingers to show it to Chase and Kunsel. Zack turns to look at James with really big eyes, blinking very slowly at him. James raises an eyebrow at him.

"What?"

Zack blinks slowly at him again. "I hate lying. James, it is literally anti-me."

James nods, putting an arm around Zack's shoulders. "I know. I get it. Everything will be okay."

Zack sighs. "My ma's never going to forgive me for this."

"I'm sure she will."

"No, she's threatened to disown me for less." Zack stares blankly at the ground. "This weekend should be interesting."

"Yeah," James says. "You can take this time to forget about your problems and all the stressful things in your life."

Zack briefly thinks back to his earlier freak out about his test. Yes, that ended absolutely horribly but at least this opportunity has presented itself to give him some sort of release from the upset and pain. Maybe, this test is affecting him a little more than all the others. Maybe because this is Shinra and SOLDIER that he's dealing with. He didn't care as much in Gongaga but this is different. This is his dream.

"Okay," Zack says. "Maybe one little white lie isn't so bad in the grand scheme of things. Right?"

James nods. "Right."

* * *

So, a small part of Zack was hoping Angeal would show up again today. He's the only one in the gym, as he feels is going to become his new morning routine, and he's doing crunches on one of the mats. Working on one's core is essential for being a SOLDIER. That and muscle strength in his arms and legs, as well as endurance too. Zack has a long way to go before he's SOLDIER ready.

There're ready.

And then there's SOLDIER ready.

Anyway, so the small part of Zack that hopes Angeal will show up just so he can tell him how much of a liar he is. Not because he hates Angeal or is mad at him for lying to an innocent cadet such as himself, which was totally uncalled for, but because he hasn't ever seen a First Class SOLDIER before. And to be honest, Angeal sought out Zack first with his strange psychic powers. Now he has to own up, in Zack's opinion.

But the other pat of Zack doesn't want to see Angeal until he's able to prove to him that Zack Fair is going to make it to First Class and he's going to be the biggest hero the world has ever seen. Is wanting a First Class SOLDIER in complete awe at how amazing Zack is too much to ask?

Angeal didn't show up that morning. And Zack couldn't help the small pout of disappointment he felt as he made his way to the lunchroom to eat and to shower before class started. It was nice that all the classes were cut in half to get them all in before lunch than then the Cadets had all of that free time. In Zack's last class, Mako: Forms and Properties, Instructor Evans passed back tests and Zack's face darkened in shame when Evans laid his on Zack's desk face down giving him a disappointed look, though thankfully said nothing and moved on.

Zack stuffs the test in his bag without looking at it, shrinking in his chair and flinching every time Instructor Evans glanced at him during the lesson to make sure he's listening. It hurts to be disappointed in by Instructor Evans who is the only Instructor that is Second Class. In his brief introduction at the beginning of class the first day he told them that he taught primarily as a Third and enjoyed it enough to continue once he became a Second. Zack liked his quiet disposition and his kind, slightly slanted eyes, indicating some Wutaian blood in him and the way he patiently waiting for people to finish scribbling down notes before continuing.

After class is over, Zack rushes to the door, not wanting Instructor Evans to have the chance to ask him to stay after. Kunsel is quick to catch up.

"Excited for tonight?" Kunsel asks, misunderstanding Zack reason for rushing out of class.

Zack shrugs. "Are you?"

Kunsel slings his backpack over his shoulder. "I guess. It'd be cool to have some time to relax, all this training is killing my muscles, but dancing isn't exactly my forte either. I'll probably be bumming it with you at the food bar."

Zack grins, feeling better now with the distraction. "Awesome. I was hoping I wasn't going to be the only one who's going to be rolled home."

Kunsel laughs, light green eyes even lighter in the bright hallway. "How much do you plan on eating?"

"Depends on how good it is," Zack laughs.

When the two get their food and sit at the table, Gabe is quickly doing something on his phone, making sure they'll be able to get in tonight while James is heading up to get food for himself and Gabe.

"How long have you and James known each other?" Zack asks, watching Gabe type away on his phone.

"Um... we both grew up here in Midgar. I moved here when I was like six right next door to him and we've been best friends ever since," Gabe says, hazel eyes darting up slightly as if mentally checking if that's right before nodding and looking back down at his phone. "Hells yeah! Okay, we are on the list! Good." He lays his phone down on the table and leans back, grinning.

"Do you usually have to get on some sort of list to get into a club?" Zack asks.

Gabe shrugs. "In some cases, yes. But this is just to make sure that we can get in before it gets filled up. No waiting outside in the cold tonight for us."

"Ya-hoo," Kunsel says, pushing around his chicken with his fork. James returns with two trays, laying one in front of Gabe, while the later tells him about the club. He smiles faintly.

"That's good, at least."

"Yeah, so tonight, we are leaving at seven-thirty. Make sure you're dressed casual, nothing Shinra," Gabe says taking a bite of his green beans. "Thanks, by the way, James."

"Sure."

Kunsel taps his fork on the plastic tray. "Not that I'm going to be a walking billboard for the company at a nightclub, but why nothing Shinra?"

Gabe shrugs. "It's just not cool. No one cares where you came from. Some people don't like Shinra so much so they would rather be able to look around at anything but Shinra. Their name and insignia is plastered all over the place. This is their time away, you know?"

Kunsel purses his lips and looks over at Zack. "You got anything like that?"

Zack rolls his eyes back and forth, thinking about it. He hasn't done much other than training since he got here. Did he have anything that wasn't provided by Shinra? Well, he did come in with clothes that weren't provided. Maybe there is something in the bottom of his backpack that he hasn't touched since he got here. "Maybe. I think my ma might have packed me something."

"Well, you have to look cool when you go to a club," Gabe says, grinning at James. "If you want to pick up any ladies."

"Ladies?" Zack murmurs, blinking slowly.

Gabe laughs, "Aw, Zack's so innocent, he hasn't thought about girls yet."

A blush warms Zack's face. "Have so! Come on! I'm just about fifteen, I got time to think about girls later. Dream first!"

"Yeah, lay off, Gabe," Kunsel jokes. "Zack will be beating them off with a stick when he becomes a First Class SOLDIER, he needs to focus until he gets there."

Zack nods, smiling. "Yeah, what Kunsel said."

Gabe rolls his eyes and James laughs, covering his mouth so food can't be seen. After he swallows, he says, "Why does it have to just be Zack? The rest of us will be big time SOLDIERs too, right?"

Zack nods. "Totally." Looking up and smiling widely, when Chase, looking timid, inches closer to their table. "Hey, Chase. Want to sit?"

Chase's face splits into a happy smile and he eagerly takes the seat next to Zack. "Thanks, Zack."

Zack pat his back, grinning. "No problem, Chase."

After lunch, the five head back to their barracks to find some clothes to wear. Zack ended up having to barrow a black wife beater and navy green short sleeve button up. "Keep unbuttoned," Gabe warned him. He had dark wash skinny jeans that he could tuck into his regulation boots. Gabe looked hesitant at first but both Kunsel and James noted that there was no Shinra logo anywhere on the boot, and the man had no choice to give in. Especially when Zack showed him his sneakers from home, all torn up and worn down.

"I play hard," Zack laughs at the horrified look on his friends' faces.

With that decided, they goofed off, playing card games and working out a bit before showering and changing to head out to Shade. Chase was eager to of been invited, having not quite found a group to fit in with, he's been floating around the groups and finally seems to of found a place with Zack, Kunsel, Gabe and James. All four are nice enough as it is, their friendship as a group is still relatively new in and of itself. One more person couldn't hurt.

Mostly dressed in tee-shirts and jeans, except Gabe was in beige colored cargo shorts, and different assortment of sneakers and regulation boots, the group makes their way off Shinra property and into the city at around seven twenty.

"Have you ever been to a nightclub, Chase?" Zack asks.

Chase shakes his head. "They had them in Kalm but I never went. This will be my first."

Gabe, overhearing this, says, "Looks like Kunsel, Zack and Chase are all about to lose their nightclub virginities."

James flinches at that. "Why do you have to make it sound so dirty?"

Gabe laughs, clapping James on the back without answering. Kunsel gives Zack a pointed look before playfully rolling his eyes. Zack just stared ahead, not really understanding, but not seeing it as important enough to question. Chase just shakes his head on Zack's left. The group walks slowly, making sure that they arrive at the door of the nightclub at the time it opens. There is already a line to get into the club by the time they get there.

"Midgar likes to party," Zack murmurs, staring at all the different teenagers that have crawled out of the woodworks just to come to this party. Zack even recognizes some of the other cadets amongst those in the line. Gabe walks up to the bouncer, says a few things and the bigger man nods, looking at Zack and the others when Gabe gestures to them. Zack's palms start to sweat when his eyes fall on him, prepared for him to call Zack out on not being fifteen, but his eyes move on and eventually he nods and lets them through.

"That was so scary," Zack admits, whispering it into James' ear. "I thought for sure I was going to get caught."

"Told you," James says, grinning. "Everything will be alright."

Zack nods, as they enter the club and are immediately hit with heat and a deep base that shakes Zack to the core. It's mostly dark with flashing lights and cool glowing designs on the walls. People are getting multi-colored bracelets and stickers just inside. Zack slips on one bracelet on each wrist and a chocobo karate kicking sticker on his left cheek. They have a black light somewhere in the room. Zack can see everyone's white teeth glowing brightly.

The girl who gave Zack his sticker, putting it on his cheek when he turned it to him, grins brightly. "This your first time at Shade?"

Zack nods sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "Does it show?"

She nods, her blond hair glowing. "Yeah, you look a little nervous." Her eyes flicker over Zack's shoulder before looking back to him. "And your friends bailed on you. Common in a nightclub unfortunately."

Zack spins around to see that yes, his friends were gone. Disappeared into the thong of swaying bodies. Sighing, Zack turns over to the girl and shrugs. "I guess that's probably my luck."

The girl smiles. "It doesn't have to be considered _bad_ luck, does it?" She asks slowly.

Zack considers, nodding. "You're right. Now I can go check out the food without having to worry about them. Thanks."

The girl blinks. "Oh, uh, you're welcome."

Zack waves, moving to skirt around the perimeter of the room, heading to the only brightly illuminated part of the room where there is like a bar full of food just waiting to be eaten by Zack.


	4. Smile

**Author's note: A little shorter than the others. Sorry. I just thought that was a nice place to stop. So a little more Angeal and Zack time. :3 That's always fun. Thanks everyone for reading so far. I love hearing from you! Let me know what you think! Enjoy!**

**Warnings: None.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the story idea and OCs.**

**Word count: 4,355**

"This is delicious," Zack hums. He smiles, tight lipped, at the bartender who has been watching him with wide eyes for the past ten minutes. "Sorry, I'm like an endless pit. I love food."

Finally, the guy laughs. It's a light, breathless laugh. Almost throaty. He has really dark messy hair and five o'clock shadow and big, bright blue eyes, much like Zack's. The man's smile is friendly and his voice is soft, strange for such a loud club.

"Thanks. I'll let the guys in back know."

"Cool," Zack says, glancing back at the swaying crowd. Zack has to wonder how they can do that. Zack would never be able to get his hips to move like they do, or be able to go on without accidently stepping on someone's foot or just get extremely embarrassed by the weird, clonky movements he's sure he'd have. Zack is probably the least graceful thing he has ever come across.

"I'm Tanner," the bartender says, holding out a hand for Zack to shake.

"Zack. Nice to meet you." Zack releases his hand and smiles lightly. "Have you been working here long?"

Tanner shakes his head. "Maybe a year at most." He leans heavily on the bar, staring at Zack with half-lidded eyes. "What about you? Have you been in Midgar long?"

Zack blinks. "Oh, um, I've only been in Midgar for like two weeks. A little less than three. So not too long." His eyes roll back and forth in thought, as if trying to make sure he was remembering correctly. He nods, eyes honing in on Tanner. "Yeah, just about three weeks."

Tanner stares at him, the lights of the club bouncing around on his irises and pupils. After a long drawn out moment, Tanner finally asks, "And uh, how old are you, Zack?"

"Fifteen..." Zack says softly, eyes lower. His eyes flicker up to meet Tanner's eyes before falling to the polished wood of the bar once more.

"Uh huh," Tanner says softly, staring at Zack intently.

"Or... I will be in like a week," he says sheepishly.

Tanner nods, smiling amused. "That's what I figured."

"Are you going to turn me in?" Zack asks, wondering if he will be able to get out of this without getting kicked out of Shinra. He's not going to lose his dream just for one lousy night at a club. If that's the case, he'll leave right now and never come back so long as he can stay in Shinra and work on becoming a SOLDIER.

Tanner wipes away invisible specks on the counter with his rag, before looking at Zack with an amused smiled. "What's one week? I can imagine a lot of worse things a boy could be doing at your age, and let's just say sneaking into a teen night at a club, a week away from the specified age, isn't in my top one hundred. But for the sake of my job, this conversation didn't happen." Tanner winks and walks a little ways down the bar to help an older girl.

Zack smiles. "That's awfully nice of him," he says to himself. Finally filled up, Zack turns to look at the jostling crowd, once again mesmerized by their movements. Zack may be at the top of his class physically, and because of recent test drama, probably the bottom of the class academically, Zack can't for the life of him figure out how people move like that without looking robotic.

Unfortunately, Zack probably got his dancing skills from his dad. His mom who had near unparalleled grace and fluidity could spin around the house, cooking and cleaning all day and make it look effortless. While if his dad even so much as attempted a pirouette, or any sort of spin, there would be lots of broken furniture. and Zack would be grounded. By his dad, for laughing at him, and by his mom, for mimicking it and destroying more of the house. It's happened before, sadly.

Zack will be the first to admit, he might be slightly impulsive.

Instead of making a fool out of himself on the dance floor, yet needing to burn off some energy, Zack bounces his leg up and down. His fingers tap against the bar as he watches the bodies sway, unable to stop the amused smile making it's way across his face. Two or three songs pass before someone taps Zack on the shoulder. His mind had drifted watching the crowd. The blur of colors and the shadowed figures, it was like something out of a movie.

"Do you want to dance?" Tanner asks.

"Aren't you working?" Zack asks instead.

Tanner smiles lightly. "I'm taking a quick break. Come on, one dance."

Zack laughs, shaking his head, resisting when Tanner grabs his arms, trying to pull him onto the floor. "Trust me, it's safer if I stay out here. I am a horrible dancer."

Tanner gives Zack a look. A swift yank and Zack is on his feet, looking up into Tanner's eyes. "Trust me, in the time I've worked here, I've seen many horrible dancers come twitching though here, claiming that's dancing. The key is to learn young. Come on, I'll give you a few pointers."

Zack shakes his head, trying to sit back down but Tanner keeps him standing, tugging him toward the crowd. "Come on, Zack. You can't be that bad."

"Prepared to have your mind blown," Zack yells over the pounding music as they get to the dance floor. Thankfully, Zack can't make out any features on the faces of the people around him. The last thing he'd want is for people to remember this day and bring it up at his inauguration ceremony into First. He'll cry if that happens too. Man, the number of different methods of ruining one of the most important days of Zack's life is growing.

Tanner brought him into the thong of people and began to sway, moving his shoulders and hips fluidly, feet remaining on the floor. His arms up and moving along side him, each move is smooth and purposeful. It looks so effortless.

"Come on, Zack. Show me what you can do," Tanner says, blue eyes glinting in the flashing lights.

Attempting to mimicking Zack sways and moves his shoulders. The movements feel jerky and strange. Zack has never had to move his body so delicately. While working out it was straight powerful movements, meant to build strength. This isn't something that Sam has ever done. Tanner's grin widen and Zack stops, running a hand through his hair.

"I can't do this," he sighs.

"Come on, Zack."

"No, I don't want to."

Zack wraps his arms around himself, turning away to head back to the bar when another song starts and someone grabs him around the waist, pulling him back toward it. Zack looks over to see Tanner lowering his head onto Zack's shoulder, smiling. He whispers, "Let me show you" and puts a hand firmly on each hip and forced it one way. Then the other.

"Um," Zack mumbles, trying to follow Tanner's lead but finding it hard to concentrate with the man's breath at the back of his neck.

"Let me lead, Zack. Relax."

Zack stares up at the lights, trying to calm down and relax his hips. His head falls back onto Tanner's shoulder, letting out slow, deep breaths. Whispering "relax" over and over again under his breath. Eventually his body starts to listen and though it's still jerky and weird, under Tanner's strong hands, his hips move a little smoother back and forth. Soon, Zack is swaying to the beat, a lot less graceful then most of the others, but it's still better than what he would have expected coming into this just that few hours before.

One song ended and another began. Sam relaxes almost completely in Tanner's embrace, the flashing lights and pound of the base casting some sort of spell on him. One that actually allows him to dance. It's weird. Zack never saw anything full filling about being able to move like this-yeah it's cool but in the long run, what would it do for him?- but being there now, swaying with Tanner, whom he can feel swaying with him. Zack feels a sense of connection with all of the other participants on the dance floor. For each boom of the base, the people connect for just a moment, moving and swaying as if one single being.

A sweat builds on Zack's forehead and down his back between his shoulder blades. Even though he's feeling the heat here more than at the bar, Zack doesn't feel any more obliged to leave.

Zack's eyes flicker down to the people dancing around them. In the darkened out figures, he spots a pillar of light. A girl with long golden blond hair and a dress of pure white. She is positively radiant. Her piercing blue eyes lock onto Zack's and for a moment, they connect. Zack feels peace and calmness and reassurance and love. She moves gracefully and elegantly, watching Zack as she spins and twirls, her eyes always locked on his.

And then she smiles. And then she's gone.

There is a sense of peace while on the dance floor. And something else, that he can't explain. But as quickly as it's there, it slips away. Like a bird on a tree limb, flying away without a care in the world. Free.

Zack's eyes slide close and the music is just a pulsing at the back of his head.

* * *

"That was wild!" Gabe cheers, whooping and hollering into the night. "Woo-hoo!"

Kunsel slaps the back of his head. "Shut up, dude! It's midnight. People are trying to sleep."

"Sorry," Gabe says sheepishly.

"Did you eat a lot, Zack?" James asks, looking back at the youngest trailing behind.

Zack looks up into James eyes, wondering if he should tell them about going onto the dance floor. They'll probably laugh and insist he show them how horrible he dances or ask if it was a girl that he went up there with. He didn't want to mention either. For some reason, the thought of not sharing something is invigorating. If they directly ask, he'll tell the truth. But James didn't ask if Zack ever went on the dance floor or who with. He asked about the food.

"Yeah," Zack says, laughing quietly. "It was delicious too."

The group make their way through the city, even though this part of the city is sleeping, the rest is still alive and flourishing. The Shinra building glowing like a beacon in the darkness at the heart of the city. The entire walk back to the barracks was all about the club. Zack only chimed in once and a while, dazed about what he experienced earlier that night.

In his mind's eye he can see Tanner, sweat glistening off of his forehead in the flashing lights, asking him in his usually quiet voice. "You'll come again next month, won't you?"

And Zack couldn't stop the adrenaline induced euphoria that clouded his mind and he silently, with a dazed look on his face, nodded.

Zack peels off his dirty clothes and slips on pajama pants before falling into bed, eyes falling closed. He's excited and his ears are buzzing, but he's tired and his body is quick to relax and a single fleeting thought came to Zack before sleep stole him away.

He didn't think about the test once this night.

* * *

"Fifty-three, fifty-four, fifty-five, fifty-six..."

"You're here early."

Zack pauses in his squats to look over his shoulder to see Angeal. His eyes flicker to the door. That blond First isn't there. And the impressive sword-buster sword, Zack had learned in swordplay class. They haven't actually started using the wooden swords against each other, despite Zack and his classmates complaints and insistence, but merely learning basic steps. Soon, he'll be able to use a real sword. It'll be so cool.

"Zack?"

Blinking a few times, Zack focuses back on Angeal, turning to face the older man. "Uh, yes sir?" Then a heartbeat later, he salutes. "Sir!"

"As you were, Cadet." Angeal looks slightly amused, but his face is still mostly unreadable with only the slight widening of his mako enhanced eyes. "It's barely seven. Isn't today the day for cadets to have off?"

Zack nods. "Yeah. I couldn't sleep in." Which isn't a complete lie. He's just pumped for some reason, even if he's mentally fatigued.

A long moment of silence. Then, "Do you often forget to salute your superiors?"

Zack laughs sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yes," he admits. Then flinches at his words. "Why did I say that?"

"Honesty is the best quality, I suppose," Angeal murmurs, his eyes lower for a moment.

Should Zack mention the test? Call Angeal out on his lie? Would that get him kicked out of SOLDIER? Angeal seems cool enough. He hasn't hauled Zack out by the scruff of his neck yet. That's a good sign at least, right? If Angeal was mad that Zack was a little lacking in the respect department, he'd have Zack thrown out already, right? Or at least disciplined. Maybe he can speak a little freely?

"Um, sir?"

Angeal nods for Zack to continue.

"Can I speak freely?"

Another nod.

"Um," Zack mumbles, looking down at the ugly blue mat beneath his feet, wondering how to go about it. Angeal did _say_ that honesty is the best quality. And as Zack prepares himself to speak, he's not going to think about the "I suppose" that followed that statement. "I failed my test."

Angeal stares at Zack with an unreadable look making Zack shrink when he glances up at those eyes. "I know."

"And you said-wait what?" Zack blinks rapidly. "How did you know?"

"I had you flagged," Angeal says simply. Zack stares blankly. In his mind's eye he can see himself walking down a hall and Angeal walking some distance behind him, pulling out a huge flag, white with the buster sword printed in the center, on a pole and throws it at Zack. The young man flinches at the images of getting himself impaled through the back by the flag as imaginary Angeal continues on his merry way.

"Huh?"

"I've been monitoring you since you showed up in Shinra." Angeal said it so simply, Zack had to think about it.

"So... you've been watching me?" A nod. "Why?"

Angeal looks away for a moment, thoughtfully. When he looks back, Zack stares unblinking. "You intrigue me."

Still unblinking, Zack asks, "What does that mean?"

Now, Angeal smiles. "It means I want to know more about you."

"Why?"

Angeal considers. A second later, he steps up to Zack and turns him to face the mirror across the room. They look so small in it, but Zack can see how significantly shorter and thinner than Angeal he is. Angeal's hand rests heavily on his shoulder. Zack squints at his reflection, then looks at Angeal for a couple of seconds and when the man didn't return his gaze, he turns back to mirror.

"Sir?"

"The first time I saw you bruises covered your body." Zack opens his mouth, about to tell him-what? That it wasn't as bad as it looked? That he's okay now? He did't get the chance to answer because Angeal continues as if he didn't notice Zack open his mouth, "I'm not going to ask how you got them." A pause. "But let's just say your smile won me over."

"My smile?" Zack looks up at the man, yet Angeal still didn't look at him. What could be so good about his smile? Admittedly, his ma did always say he had a charming and friendly smile, but she's his mom, she's suppose to say stuff like that.

"Yes," a faint smile. "All I could stare at was your bruises. I thought-" he hesitates, as if wondering how much to share. "I wondered what could have happened. Who could have hurt you so. I felt..." He trails, a crease appearing between his eyes. His eyes dart around as if fishing for the word in his brain. His hand drops from Zack's shoulder, brushing his back before falling to his side, neither notice.

Zack hears himself ask, "Pity?"

Finally Angeal looks down at him, face unreadable. "No. I felt sad. You made me remember a very innocent young man that used to get hurt like that, but whereas he would wear this... look of horror, or maybe the best word is haunted." Angeal looks away. "He would look like a piece of his soul was taken away. For hours, if we were lucky."

"And... if you were unlucky?" Zack asks quietly. Angeal's eyes look miles away.

"Days. Maybe months, depending."

There is a long drawn out silence. Zack having no clue how to respond to that. Never before has he seen someone with a look that could only be described as "haunted". What would have to happen to that person for that to happen? Zack can't even begin to fathom it.

"But then I saw your smile."

"Huh?" Zack looks back up at the older man.

Angeal nods, his eyes back at the present. "You looked so beaten with those bruises, but then... you looked up and smiled. You were asked if you were nervous. You laughed, smiled and explained that you were excited."

Zack laughs, remembering when he utterly embarrassed himself that first day. "Well I was! This is my dream. Of course I wouldn't be able to stand still when I could be training to get stronger."

"Staying still seems to be a bit of an issue for you."

"Yeah and Kunsel says I'm... a luffa."

"You mean aloof?"

Zack blinks. "Yeah, what did I say?"

"A luffa."

"And what's that?"

"A cucumber."

"A... no way!" Zack laughs. "That's crazy! What a crazy language we speak!"

Angeal chuckles lightly. Zack bounces on one foot, then the other. Soon he's actually bouncing, both feet. Planted on the ground, then hovering, then planted. Angeal watches him bounce around for a few moments before quietly asking, "Why did you fail your exam, Zack?"

If Zack could pause mid-air, he would have, but instead he hit the ground with a loud _slap. _The two stand in silence, staring at each other. Mako enhanced eyes burn holes through Zack's retinas. He has to look away first.

"Good thing you didn't come see me yesterday. I might have been angry and yelled at you. Though I know you didn't do anything wrong. I'm glad I'm not mad, it doesn't look so good on me, you know? Anger isn't quite my color." Zack laughs lightly, eyes half lidded.

"Why did you fail your exam, Zack?" Angeal asks again, voice neutral, but Zack can feel his heavy gaze on him. Heavier than his hand ever could. Why didn't he ask about Zack's possible anger? Shouldn't he be mad that Zack almost blamed him for something that was completely out of the older man's control. It's only logical, if you study for something, you'll usually do fine. That just so happened to not be the case with Zack, unfortunately. But that's not Angeal's fault.

Zack kicks the floor with the toe of his boot, feeling bad for being even slightly angry with the man. "I... don't really know. My head just gets all messed up. I mean everything on it, I'm sure, but when the test comes around, I just, blank. Start seeing weird things." He remembers the last test. "Some _really _weird things. And then boom! Class is over and not a single thing was written in. Although this time I think I spelled my name backwards."

Angeal raises a single eyebrow. "If I asked you something about mako, that was on the test, you would know it?"

Zack shrugs. "Probably." He kicks the floor again.

"What is mako?"

Zack looks up at Angeal calm face. "It the liquidized form of the planets energy. The Lifestream."

Angeal nods, shifting slightly on his feet. It almost seemed like a conscious thing. He's very still, Zack notes. "What are the three forms mako can appear in?"

Zack lists them off on his fingers. "Liguid, solid and gas."

"The only other substance that is in all those forms?" A perfect SOLDIER, Zack rationalizes. That would make sense. No, a _model _SOLDIER. That makes more sense. Angeal is everything that Zack would biased associate with SOLDIER.

Zack laughs, snapping back into the present. "Water, and that's biology."

Angeal looks about to comment, then shakes his head. "And how are each of these three forms used?"

"We used the liquidized form of mako as energy to fuel, well, everything. The solid form is used to give humans power, we call them material. And the gas form is only utilized by the planet. It is the theorized form of the Lifestream itself. Even though it moves like water and is directed like a current, it is still considered a gas, capable of moving through objects-like humans."

Angeal nods, smiling. "Very good, Zack."

Zack beams at the praise, practically bouncing. After a moments hesitation, Angeal reaches out and affectionately rubs Zack's wild black hair. Zack beams right up at Angeal, shaking with happiness.

"Thanks so much, Angeal! I mean, sir."

"Angeal is fine."

Zack pauses in thought. "I thought we weren't suppose to call our superiors by their first names."

"That's true, unless you have expressed permission," Angeal says thoughtfully. "Zack, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, I'm an open book. This one time, my ma got a diary to write it. I called it a diary, she insisted it was a journal, anyway, I wrote in it for about a week and then my ma and told me to write whatever I was thinking about in it so I did. At the end of that week she asked to read it. I said sure, you know? Why not? And then she had to take her headache medication." Zack laughs. "She said that my thoughts confused her." He shakes his head, remember the look of strain on her face as she probably tried to find some semblance of order in Zack's usually chaotic mind.

Angeal opens his mouth, pauses, then closes it again. He looks over Zack's head in thought. Finally, he says, "That reminds me of someone." He shakes the thought away and looks back at Zack. "What I was going to ask is if you would be interested in becoming my apprentice?"

Zack's smile fades a little as he tilts his head to the side. "What does that mean?"

"It means I'll oversee your training. You can still take some classes with the other cadets but only what I think you need. I have complete control over what I think you need to learn."

"Don't I have to wait for the SOLDIER exam? See if I can even make it into SOLDIER?" Zack asks softly, hoping that this isn't too good to be true.

"That's true," Angeal mends. "But the Mentoring program is about finding cadet and Thirds with potential and training them to become First Class. I think it's important that you remain in most classes with your other classmates, but there are certain things that I would like to see if you have a nack for and go on from there."

"So what will we be doing?" Zack asks, hands gripped in front of him, shaking in a mixture of anxiety and excitement. If what Angeal says is true, then he honestly believes that Zack has the potential to make First. That's a little too good to be true. Three weeks into the program and he can tell? Angeal must really have an eye for talent.

"Well, I'm going to be taking you out of certain classes, like your hand-to-hand class and swordplay class. Eventually, I may even take you out of your conditioning class too and teach you as I see fit. How does that sound?"

Bouncing with excitement, Zack nods. "I would love that! Do you really think I could become a SOLDIER First Class?"

Angeal considers. "Anything is possible, Zack."

"Thank you so much, Angeal, I won't let you down, I swear!" Before Zack can stop himself, he throws his arms around the stoic First class' waist and hugs him tightly. Angeal stiffened like stone beneath Zack's overly friendly embrace but was able to manage a light pat on the back before Zack released him. Warily of any more surprise hugs, Angeal straightens up, prepared to bolt if the boy so much as flexes wrong.

"I'm sure you won't. We'll start Monday. I'll come back and observe you during your conditioning class."

Zack nods briskly. "Okay. This is so exciting! I can't wait!"

Angeal nods, turning and heading to the door.

Zack starts up his squats with renewed vigor. "Fourty-uhh, Fifty-ehh. What the fresh hell was I on?"

Angeal chuckles lightly to himself and exits the room.


	5. Puppy

**Author's note: Okay, wow. Uber embarrassing. So, for those of you that caught my random "Sam" in the last chapter. That was a total fluke. I'm writing another third person story where the main character is Sam and it just kind of came out without me realizing it. So sorry about that. Every time, which hopefully this is the last, you see a Sam, it's suppose to be Zack. Hopefully I don't goof up again in the future! Thanks so much for your comments and reviews! They are inspiring! Let me know what you think! Enjoy!**

**Warnings: None. Well, maybe language.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the story idea and OCs.**

**Word count: 5,174**

For how excited he was to begin training with his new mentor, the word was hard to say with a yip of glee following, Zack slept in. Even after the bell went off, Zack waved his hand at Kunsel when he tried to wake him. Zack was so excited last night that he couldn't stop training until late afternoon, got some lunch in him and rested the rest of the day. His muscles are sore, but in a good way. He has plenty of time.

Angeal is going to come see him today. Going to start his own personal training. This isn't just a step towards becoming a First, this is a gigantic leap towards it. With Angeal's help, Zack's dream will become a reality. There is no way Zack can thank him enough.

Rolling onto his back, Zack throws an arm over his eyes. He can hear some of the boys bustling about, clothes shifting, the occasional word here and there. Zack opens his eyes and looks at the window, the sky a splash of orange and yellow. Something about today, Zack can feel it, is going to be different. Special, even. Zack has no idea how he knows, just that he does. Somehow, today is going to change something...

Zack stretches as far as he can, his toes and fingers pointed. He holds this pose, his joints cracking, muscles extended as far as they can. Relishing a moment longer in the pleasant burn, Zack finally relaxes. Eyes drifting closed once more. Zack's tired muscles hum at the prospect of working out again today. It seems that working out has become a drug to him. He can't get enough.

After a long, drawn out, relaxing silence, Zack rolls out of bed. He rolls his shoulders and makes his way to the shower, deciding to spice up his newly formed routine. He needs to be in tip top shape for class today. Angeal is going to be watching him, finding better ways to train him. Now that Zack is thinking about it, Angeal must have been watching Zack for a while now.

He even knew about the first day of Zack's training. Has he been watching since then? But why didn't he say anything? That must have been how Angeal knew about Zack being in the gym that morning.

"Flagged," Angeal had said.

Zack walks into the shower room, it's got a couple dozen boys in there. Zack heads into the next room, only four are in there. He goes to the back of the room where he usually takes his showers. He strips down, turning on the water and immediately stepping under the spray. He grits his teeth and tenses his muscles as the cold water washes over him.

Zack forces himself to relax, letting the cold water wake him up.

So First class SOLDIERs don't have magical psychic abilities? It was just run of the mill stalking? Er... not stalking, more like playfully observing to find potential. Or whatever. Zack's not all that sure what to think about that. Ultimately, everything is going to be alright.

Zack quickly cleans himself up, lathering his body with soap, and his hair with shampoo. He lets the cold spray wash away the suds, his eyes remaining closed. He lets his mind fall blank. Once he's down, he shuts off the water and roughly towel dries himself before slipping into his clothes and heading back to the barracks. He drops off his dirty clothes.

The cafeteria is loud, Zack bounces his way through the large room. He greets everyone that he comes across. Nothing can ruin his good mood.

"What's up, Zack?" Kunsel asks when the boy plops down next to him, his tray clacking against the table. "I thought you do a little bit of a warm up before breakfast."

"I usually do," Zack says, "but today is special."

"How?"

Zack grins widely. "Someone is coming in to watch me today. Take me on as an apprentice."

At first, the words didn't appear to make any sense to the brown haired boy, but then his spoon clanks against the plastic tray. His mouth falls open in agape. He blinks a few times rapidly, then closes his mouth, opening it again a moment later, he asks, "Are you kidding me? You've been accept as an apprentice? I had heard stories that it was a possibility but I'd never met anyone who was actually approached."

Zack is practically bouncing in his seat. "I bet! I'm so excited and nervous. I really hope I don't mess up. I mean, he's nice enough and he's been watching me from day one, I guess."

"So? Who is it?" Kunsel asks, leaning toward him.

"Who's who?" James asks, he and Gabe taking the seat across from the other two boys.

Kunsel looks over at them. "Zack was asked to be an apprentice. He's coming today to watch Zack."

Gabe and James hold identical looks of awe and shock. They both look at one another, a silent communication between the two of them, before they both look back over at Zack. It's at this point that Chase tentatively takes a seat down next to Kunsel, looking as if he's worried that the others would just ask him to leave suddenly. He relaxes when Zack glances over and says "good mornin' Chase."

"Are you serious?" Gabe asks. "Are you really being scouted, er watched.. I don't even know what to call this."

"What?" Chase looks around perplexed.

"I am," Zack says, glancing briefly at Chase to smile, before looking back to Gabe. "I spoke to him yesterday. He told me that he's probably going to take me out of my hand-to-hand class and swordplay class. He wants to see if he needs to take me out of conditioning too."

"But who is he?" Kunsel asks. "Who's the First class?"

Zack taps his chin. He remembers Angeal's first name, but what was the last one? H-something. "Angeal... He... Ha..."

Blank faced, Kunsel asks, "Angeal Hewley?"

"Yeah!" Zack points at him, nodding. "Yeah, that's it. Hewley. How did you know?"

Kunsel stares at Zack for a split second before slamming his hands on the table. "Are you freaking kidding me, Zack? You are going to be Angeal Hewley's apprentice? Are you kidding? Zack? Holy shit!"

Zack, perplexed, looks around at all of the other shocked faces. "What's the big deal with this Angeal guy?"

"Zack," Chase says, eyes like saucers. "Angeal Hewley is one of the original tritiny. He's a close personal friend to General Sephiroth."

At first the words made no sense, Zack's eyes lulled back and forth as he tried to think about why that mattered. Yes, he had heard of General Sephiroth. He was the original SOLDIER. An idol among SOLDIERs. He's the one that the entire program is based around. Because of him, and two others, Shinra has gained as much power as it does.

That means, if Angeal is one of these guys, Zack is going to be trained by a legend. It's at this point that Zack wished he had looked more on the publicity side of the tabloids rather than just learning everything he can about Shinra itself. Now he's really embarrassed. Angeal must have thought that Zack was some kind of moron for not gushing over him. Probably thinks he's some kind of backwater hick. That's just Zack's luck.

Maybe something could ruin his good mood.

On the other hand, a legend like Angeal saw potential in him. That would be almost as good as the General himself walking up and telling him that he would make a good SOLDIER some day. Not that that would ever happen, but still. This is awesome! Zack might really have a shot!

"Oh my goddess..." Zack sighs, staring off into space dreamy faced.

"Dude, Zack, you are so lucky," Kunsel says, settling back into his seat. "I'm totally jealous."

Zack smiles lightly. "I hope I don't let him down."

* * *

Zack is practically shaking with nerves by the time class starts and they go through warm up stretches. Zack makes sure to be extra thorough with his stretching to ensure he's extra limber for todays training. Everything has got to be perfect. He has to make sure that Angeal is blown away by how talented Zack is and the thought of taking back his mentorship won't even cross his mind.

"Do you want me to go hang out with Gabe, James and Chase so that you can focus on conditioning?" Kunsel asks when they are finally let loose.

Zack, glancing at the door for what feels like the thousanth time since class started, looks back over at Kunsel with a sheepish look. "I actually don't want to be alone right now. I'm a little nervous."

"Zack..."

"Okay, maybe I'm a lot nervous," Zack admits. "At least until he shows up, can you stay?"

Kunsel smiles, nodding. "Got it."

As per routine, they start out by jogging around the perimeter of the room. Every couple of minutes, Zack will glance over at the door, waiting for Angeal's hulky form to pass through that door. Why hasn't he shown up yet? Maybe he decided that Zack was a mistake? That the possible potential that he saw was actually just a fluke. What if something happened? What if he was called off to do something that First Class SOLDIERs do?

Zack glances over to the door again, almost tripping over his own feet when he spots Angeal and that blond First Class standing in the doorway talking. Zack looks over at Kunsel and makes a strange noise of excitement. He slaps Kunsel's arm repeatedly, bouncing around pointing. The blond's mako blue eyes flicker toward Zack and he says something to Angeal.

After a moment, Angeal looks over at a bouncing Zack and smiles faintly. He holds up a finger to signal for one moment before turning back to the blond First Class to exchange a few more words.

"He's here, Kunsel, he's here!" Zack whispers loudly, hitting the brown haired man's arm harder.

Kunsel shoves him away. "I know, I see him. Stop hitting me, Zack!"

Zack smiles sheepishly, laughing to hide his nerves. "Sorry, sorry." He glances back nervously at the dark haired First, worried that he'll suddenly realize his mistake and leave. But after a few more minutes of speaking, Angeal turns toward Zack, who ceased jogging to do squats. Angeal makes his way over to Instructor Kalegrin while the other First Class takes one last look at Zack before leaving.

Kalegrin looks a little shocked to see Angeal, but manages a salute before Angeal can wave it off. After a few minutes of speaking, Angeal nods, turning to Zack and makes his way over. Kunsel leans close, shrinking as the larger man gets closer.

"You good?"

Zack nods, smiling at Kunsel. "Yeah. Thanks, man."

Kunsel nods, saluting to Angeal before jogging across the room towards a wide eyed Chase, Gabe and James. Everyone else in the room is staring awestruck at the First Class. A sharp yell to get back to work from Kalegrin and everyone returns to their previous work out, throwing glances over at the cadet and the First.

"Hi," Zack says shyly.

Angeal's faint smile returns. "You haven't stopped bouncing since I came into the room."

"I'm excited." Zack grunts, looking away to hide his embarrassment.

"And that's fine. Now, just continue with your work out, I'll just be observing."

Zack hesitates. "Can we talk? I'm a little nervous. Kunsel usually talks to me while we're training but you scared him off."

Angeal at first looks a little remorseful at that, only to smile when he notices Zack sticking his tongue out playfully at that. "Sorry about that, Zack."

Zack continues his squats. "Why didn't you tell me that you were someone important?"

Angeal blinks a few times, the question catching him off guard. "To be honest? I was a little surprised that you didn't recognize me. I thought when you heard my name you would, but still nothing. It's unusual to come across someone, especially as young as yourself, that hasn't at least heard of me."

"Sorry."

"No," Angeal says immediately. "It's part of the charm."

Zack tilts his head to the side. "Charm?"

Angeal smiles lightly. "It's a relief to see someone every once and a while who is none the wiser about all the company's attempts to shove our glory down the throats of our enemies and allies."

Zack pauses, considering that. "It's gotta be hard." Angeal stares blankly. "To always be watched. To be the center of attention, especially since you don't want to be. It's different for me, who wants people to recognize me when I walk down the street, but that's got to be hard for someone who doesn't want that."

A thoughtful look crosses Angeal's face. His eyes look far away, the thoughtful look softening into one of unmasked affection. He's definitely thinking about someone who means a lot to him. He shifts slightly on his feet once again giving Zack the impression that the man is uncannily still. He lets out a long winded sigh, blinking out of his reverie. His eyes fall back to Zack's face.

"You're right. I was never all that interested in fame and fortune, just following my best friend into an unknown world. I never really gave all that much thought as to why the media attention annoyed me to no end." Angeal nods, more to himself than to Zack.

Zack starts up his squats again. He looks up at Angeal with big blue eyes. "Um, Angeal...? Is it wrong to want that?"

"What? Fame and fortune?"

Zack hesitates. "I don't really care all that much for money. I mean, yeah I guess that's important somewhere, but my entire life has been dedicated to being a hero. I guess that walks hand in hand with fame, but I didn't want to be a hero because I wanted everyone to know my name. I wanted everyone to know I'm a hero. I guess there isn't really much of a difference when you say it aloud, but that's how I feel." Zack blushes.

Angeal stares at Zack for a long moment. He smiles faintly and Zack tilts his head to the side again. Angeal shakes his head. "Puppy."

A little more of a tilt of the head. "What?"

"I think I've found a new name for you. Puppy."

Zack blinks. "But why?"

Angeal laughs, smiling. "You just remind me of a puppy." Zack rubs the back of his head, not really finding anything wrong with the name. In fact, if anything, that means that Angeal plans on staying close. Why names something if you don't plant to keep it? "Come on, pup, keep working out."

Zack's laugh is abrupt, already liking the sound of the nickname. He continues working out. True to his word, Angeal follows Zack around the training room as the younger works out. Occasionally he'll give some advice on how to best go about improving his form. But he spoke about light topics with Zack while the boy works out.

"I didn't think it mattered," Angeal was saying.

Zack laughs breathlessly. "That's the entire point of the movie! The first ten minutes basically tell you the entire backstory of the movie."

Angeal shakes his head. "My bad. I tend to multitask while watching television."

"It's good movie," Zack says. "You should really try seeing it again."

Angeal nods. "Perhaps."

Zack finishes his fifty rep of crunches by the time Instructor Kalegrin called for group conditioning. Zack hustles over to his usual spot at the end in the back, beside Kunsel. Angeal stops parallel to Zack but against the wall to watch Zack go through the routine.

Thirty push-ups. One lap around the room. Twenty curl-ups. Twenty medicine ball twists. Three laps around the room. Twice through the tires. Forty jumping jacks. Climb up a rope and ring the bell on the ceiling. Then a lap around the room to lower the heart rate. It's brutal but at the end, Zack is always laughing. Usually within the top ten to finish, gives him plenty of time to laugh at Kunsel, who just so happens to prove that climbing a rope is in fact difficult when you are flipping someone off.

"It's not nice to laugh at a struggling friend," Angeal comments, not at all angry. Zack nods.

"I know, but it's just something we do. I never mean it to be mean. He knows I love him," Zack grins. "Come on, Kunsel! Don't let that Gabe guy beat you!"

Kunsel, red faced, glares over his shoulder at the younger cadet. "Shut the fuck up, Zack!"

"Screw you, Fair!" Gabe wheezes, making his way over to the rope. Zack doubles over laughing for a moment before squinting around the room.

"Go Chase! Don't let James win!" Zack cheers.

James gives Zack an exasperated look while Chase looks genuinely pleased at the encouragement and began to work all that much harder. Angeal walks along side Zack as he does his cool down lap. Finally done teasing his friends, Zack looks up at his mentor.

"How did I do?"

"Good. You have a lot of potential. It helps that your energy is practically limitless. Let me ask you this: Is the training regiment easy at all?"

Zack shrugs, thinking about it. "I don't think so. I mean, that conditioning is brutal, especially on my arms but I'm getting used to it. I've been doing it for a few weeks now."

Angeal nods and they walk in silence. After a few moments, Angeal pulls out his phone to check the time. He snaps it closed and slips it into his back pocket. "I need to head out now, Pup. Good work. I'll see you after lunch."

Zack nods. "Okay. Bye."

"Bye." With that, Angeal moves smoothly to the door and out. The last thing Zack sees is Angeal's sword before the door closes. With that, Zack makes a mental note to ask Angeal about his awesome buster sword.

"That... really was the First Class legend Angeal Hewley," Kunsel pants, catching up to Zack, looking over at the door where the aforementioned man disappeared through. "I think I'm in shock. What's he like?"

Zack pushes some of his sweaty bangs from his face. Considering the question. "He's... normal. I don't know how else to describe him."

Kunsel, cheeks puffing out with exertion, tinged red. He rolls his shoulders, trying to lessen the amount of pain he knows he's going to be in later. Zack quickly follows his lead. After they finish their lap, they do some other cool down stretches before taking quick showers and heading to their next class. Zack can barely sit still, his muscles are tired and are starting to get sore, but he's still excited to continue training with Angeal.

As his Instructor goes on and on, Zack's eyes travel to the window next to him. The first class was promising. Angeal seemed pleased enough with Zack's performance. And he did say that he could see Zack again after lunch. Wait, does that mean he needs to go to his class? Is Angeal going to pick him up from there? Or is he going to watch him like he did in conditioning? This mentoring program, Angeal said it was new. To look for potential First Class SOLDIERs.

Zack smiles to himself. He can't wait to send a letter back home. His ma and pa will freak when they find out. Lissa will too. Lissa was the girl that Zack's ma really hoped would be the mother of her grandkids but Zack still isn't in that stage of his life where he's interest in girls. He's seen girls where he says to himself "Man, they are gorgeous" but he has yet, mostly because he's not even fifteen yet, thought, "I'd hit that" or whatever it is horny boys are suppose to think when they see a girl that they are sexually into.

Lissa, being two years older than Zack, seemed to like him well enough, but agreed when Zack told her that he wasn't interested "yet," he said. "But maybe someday but not now." He didn't know how else to tell her that he didn't want to be with her now. She agreed, said she was too young to be thinking about marriage. A few days later, Zack joined Shinra. It's not that Zack is opposed to girls, just not now. So he and Lissa agreed to be friends, in spite of Zack's and Lissa's mothers both wishing for more.

Things are just starting to get interesting here. Zack needs to only focus on his dream. That is his primary focus. That is the thing that means the most to him. With Angeal's help, he will be able to make his dream come true.

If that were the case, Zack would forever be in Angeal's debt.

* * *

Zack is so excited for the next portion of his training that Zack has to choke down his food in order to be in tip top shape for later. Zack can see his friends around him, talking and laughing and he's sure some have even spoken to him, but his mind is so filled with thoughts of hand-to-hand training with Angeal, he can't even begin to think about anything else. He has to physically stop himself from running all the way to his hand-to-hand class. In fact, he took extra long trying to make his way to class with Kunsel.

"Are you excited to see him again?" Kunsel asks.

Zack laughs sheepishly. "Does it show?"

Kunsel grins, shrugging a little. He bumps Zack's shoulder with his own. "A little. But it's to be expected after all. Even now this is all so surreal. He seemed cool earlier, I think you're stressing over nothing."

Zack smiles crookedly. "You think so?"

Kunsel claps Zack on the back. "Totally. Relax, dude. You're fine."

The two work their way through the crowds to get to their class. The conditioning class is the only one all cadets have at the same time, the rest is different schedules depending on the cadet.

"You're birthday's coming up, right?"

"Thirteen days," Zack says, finally realizing just how far and how close it is. He shakes his head in astonishment.

Kunsel purses his lips. "You'll be fifteen, right? Got any plans?"

Zack shakes his head. "No, not really. Actually, Kunsel, do you mind if we don't talk about this? It's going to be my first birthday from home-"

Kunsel holds up his hands, nodding surely. "Of course. Sorry, Zack. Another time, yeah?"

Zack nods, smiling thankfully. "Thanks, man."

"No sweat."

This is the first time he's going to have a birthday without his parents there to celebrate it with him. Most birthdays are celebrated religiously in Gonaga. It's a quant, close knit community that knows pretty much everything about one another. Whereas one person would see it as intimidating to know so much about your neighbors and to have so much known, it's a comfort to Zack. He knew who he could go to for what and have a general idea about how they are going to react. This is really the first time in Zack's life that he's been able to look around at the people around him and know next to nothing about any of them.

It's a little disorienting.

Zack slinks into the room and, with a little wave to Kunsel in departure, he sits against the wall, lowering to the floor. He pulls his legs up to his chest, wrapping his arms around them and lowering his head onto them. He's so... happy? Yes, happy because everything is finally starting to fall into place. So much so that he's starting to get drained emotionally.

And maybe he's a little sad that he's not going to be able to celebrate his birthday like he used to, but he knew that coming in right? He knew that this place isn't just an oversized Gongaga. This isn't where he was born or raised. This is his new home. This is where he belongs. This is where he will become a hero.

Someone touches his arm. Zack jumps, pulling his head up to look at Angeal's calm face and gentle eyes. A small crease between those two orbs. The only sign that he has any emotion.

"Are you okay, pup?"

Zack smiles lightly. "Yeah, just a little down. Just got taken down a dark mental rode and I'm struggling to pull myself back from it."

Angeal shifts on his hunches. "Come, let's walk."

Zack blinks a few times fast. "Uh, but what about class?"

"He knows that you're in my care now. Let's go." Angeal holds out a hand for Zack to take. After a moment's hesitation the boy complies and is easily pulled to his feet. With a single glance over his shoulder at his fellow cadets staring after him, he heads to the door.

As they walk down one of the many, carbon copies of the same layout of the halls, Zack looks up at Angeal. "Um, sir? I'm sorry."

"For what, pup?"

Zack's eyebrows furrow slightly. "Um... I don't really know. I just figured it was the best thing to say in this case."

Angeal shakes his head. "You are so much like him..." he murmurs under his breath, eyes focused ahead of them like he hasn't marched through this particular hallway at least a million times.

"Like who?"

"Sephiroth."

Zack stops, eyes wide. "I'm like General _Sephiroth_?"

Angeal stops along side him, looking back at him with a neutral expression. "In a lot of ways, yes. He's not very good as social interaction so to fill the silence, sometimes he'll just apologize because he doesn't know how else to start up conversation."

Zack looks at his new mentor perplexed. "I'm like General Sephiroth," he mumbles, shaking his head. "I can't even begin to believe that. Holy chocobo." He starts moving again, still in shock. "That's like saying I got the same third cousin of president Shinra. It just doesn't happen."

The older man smiles lightly at that, keeping pace easily with the smaller boy. "Believe it or not but Sephiroth does have traits about him that can be linked to normal human behavior." At Zack's weird look, Angeal adds, "I mean he's a lot more normal than people think. Most people think he's silent and calculating all the time, and mostly he is, but a part of it is him trying to read people. Subtle hints only confuse him. If you want him to understand something, it's best to just come straight out and say it. Much like you."

Zack nods. "That's so true. I can't read signs very well. You just got to come straight out. That or I'll be the moron guessing what you want for the next couple of days, or months, depending on how patient you are."

Angeal chuckles. "I understand. Some people are just built like that. Whereas my other best friend likes to drop not-so-subtle hints like it's his job." Angeal has this affectionate gleam in his eyes that Zack can't help but admire. He's never really had solid friends back home like he does here. Kunsel, first and foremost, but then there's Gabe, James and even Chase is becoming very reliable. It must be nice to have someone or a few someones that you know intimately enough about their secrets and their lives that others wouldn't probably know.

Angeal stops in front of one of the doors and swipes his key card, punching in a code. The door slides open and reveals what can only be described as the First Classes gym. It's probably twice the size of the cadet gym capable of holding at least thrice as many cadets as there is now, comfortably. On the far back wall is all of the work out equipment, all new and pristine, top of the line quality. A large patted area in front of Zack and Angeal with the same ugly blue mats. The space is wide, wide enough to accommodate people swinging large swords around.

Speaking of which. "I like your sword," Zack says, pulling his eyes away from the gym to his mentor.

Angeal looks a bit taken back by the sudden interest, but takes it in stride nonetheless. "It's my pride and joy. It's a symbol of my honor."

Zack looks at the impressive swords on his teacher's back. At the very least it's bigger than Zack. "How do you wield it?"

"With great difficulty at first," Angeal says with mirth. "But like all tools, everything becomes easier with time. Even wielding the most hulking of blades."

Zack stares wide eyed. "Wow, Angeal. You're like some kind of sage. Or perhaps a guru of knowledge."

Angeal smiles fondly at that. "Like the use of a tool, the gathering of knowledge steams from experience and _time._" He stressed the word to make his point. Zack nods, awestruck by Angeals wise words. "Now, let's see what you can do, shall we, pup?"

Zack whoops, darting into the room. His earlier dark mood already forgotten. He spins around, enjoying the wide open space. Finally, he turns to Angeal, grin wide. "Are you ready for this, Angeal? I'm pretty impressive if Instructor Torin wasn't lying."

Angeal pulls off his buster blade and leans it against the wall, slipping his boots off at the corner of the mat, Zack is quick to follow. They walk into the center of the mat and turn to face each other when Angeal finally speaks. "I'm looking forward to it."


	6. Proposal

**Author's note: Sorry for the wait! Here's the next chapter. Thanks for everyone who's read, reviewed and favorited so far! Keep it in mind that there is a slight timeskip, so enjoy! Let me know what you think!**

**Warnings: None. Well, maybe language.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the story idea and OCs.**

**Word count: 4,458**

"Oof."

Zack lay, sprawled out on his back, wheezing. He blinks blearily up at his mentor. Angeal just stares down patiently at the boy, waiting for him to regain his breath. After a few harsh breaths, Zack twists a little to straighten out on his back.

"Torin is a no good liar."

Angeal chuckles at that, eyes twinkling. "You say that everyday, Pup."

There is a pregnant silence that follows. The two looking at one another, no challenging at all, but somewhat seizing each other up in a way. Zack finally says, "I wish I'd of been savvy enough at hand-to-hand to of been able to avoid that."

Angeal smiles. "You will eventually."

"It's been over a week," Zack whines, sitting up slightly onto his hands.

Angeal smiles a little more, walking around the younger boy. Zack twists his head around, following his mentor as he's being circled. Every day for the past eight days the older of the two would watch over him in his conditioning class and then teaching him in hand-to-hand and swordplay classes. Angeal is adamant about Zack keeping in touch with the other cadets so Angeal encourages Zack to go to class with them every day. Even Zack's day off was dedicated to time with Angeal. He actually took Zack up to his apartment and the two look over the material for yet another test.

But this is over Midgar history.

Angeal offers up tips on how to stay focused, but overall looks concerned about the prospect of his protege failing another test. He's almost as concerned as Zack is about this next test. Angeal spoke with Instructor Evens and Zack was able to get the test done orally, but Zack doesn't want to do that. He wants to be able to sit down and go through it by himself.

"You want to try something a little less painful?" Angeal asks.

"Will I get hurt is I say yes?"

Angeal chuckles. "Perhaps."

Zack mocks consideration, going so far as to rub his chin and hum thoughtfully. "Okay, I'll take that risk. What are we going to do?"

"I'm going to show you how to escape the hold of something much larger and stronger than you." Angeal says. "Now lay back."

Zack obeys laying flat on his back staring up at the man before him. Angeal kneels down and crawls over Zack's body with his much larger one. With each hand he grabs one of Zack's wrists and holds them down at either side of the younger boy's head. He leans over Zack's face to look down at them and for a moment they merely stare. Zack can feel Angeal's weight but is also keenly aware that he isn't using all of it. Just enough that id the boy struggles-he won't be able to pull free. Zack twists his wrists around experimentally. He can barely move them.

"Okay," Zack says quietly, looking up into Angeal's mako enhanced eyes. "Now what do I do?"

"You tell me," Angeal say. "How do you get out of this precarious situation?"

Zack tries his wrists again, to no avail. He glances back at Angeal. "Um...?" An idea pops into his head, one that makes him laugh lightly. He brings up both of his feet from between Angeal's legs and presses them to his gut, feeling the older man's abs against his socks. He wiggles his toes to simulate ticking. Angeal jerks back a little with a look of shock before composing himself.

"Be serious, pup," he says but not without mirth. "How would you actually get out of this situation if I were a monster?"

"Head butt?" Zack guesses. Angeal tilts his head back slightly in case Zack decided to test the theory.

"Good," Angeal concedes, "but what if I had an armored head?"

Zack makes a look, eyes squinting in thought. He makes a humming noise under his breath, multitudes of different options running through his head, most of which aren't useful. If Zack could rub his head in thought, he would.

"Wiggle my arms free?" Zack asks.

"Can you?" Angeal asks patiently.

Zack struggles against the older man, only serving to bruise his wrists with the strain. He gives up again and falls still beneath the man, the bottom of his toes hot from the heat of Angeal's stomach. Shifting into a slightly more comfortable position, his feet moving to rest on Angeal's thighs, cracking his toes slightly.

"I give up," Zack says. "How do I get away?"

"You were somewhat right the first attempt. If I am a monster, more often than not, if I have an armored head, I also have an armored body or shell. The weak point then would probably be the stomach, same as humans. It's one of the softest places on the body. Strike at that to get away and then formulate a more accurate plan to defeat the monster."

Zack stares for a long moment, considering, before grinning. "That's awesome."

The two of them stare at each other. Zack grinning and Angeal smiling faintly. Angeal leans back a little, lightening his grip on Zack's wrists so the blood continued to flow. Zack wiggles his fingers a little to help out.

"Oh my, what is going on in here?"

Angeal's head snaps up, looking at the person standing just inside the doorway, the door whispering shut. Zack's head falls back, looking above himself at the upside down figure. All he can make out is red.

The person starts to step closer and Angeal scoots back a little, almost looking ashamed before shaking his head. "Gen, what are you doing here?"

"I asked Seph where you might be. I haven't seen you in weeks. He said you'd be down here playing with your new puppy. Imagine my surprise to find that he wasn't talking about an actual puppy. What's your name?" The man kneels next to Zack's head. Zack pushes himself up into a sitting position, shaking his head to get the dark spots to disappear before twisting around slightly to face the red head.

A big grin splits his face and he holds out a hand. "Zack Fair. Pleasure to meet you."

The man smiles sweetly, taking Zack's smaller hand in his own. "Ah, someone has good manners. Angeal has trained you well. I am Genesis Rhapsodos." His eyes watch Zack's face closely, as if looking for something.

"Don't bother, Gen, the pup has no idea who you are," Angeal says.

"Hey," Zack says indignant, pulling his hand back. "I know who he is." A slightly pause. Zack glances at the red head sheepishly. "You're a... friend of Angeal's right?" He smiles crookedly, a little nervous laugh follows.

Genesis looks thoughtful for a moment before his eyes flicker up to Angeal, before a small smile crosses his face. "I like him, Angeal. Where in the world did you find him?"

"I'm a cadet," Zack says. "I'm going to be a hero one day."

Genesis stares, eyes flickering back to Angeal before going back to Zack. "Will you now? You know, my dream is to be a hero too."

Zack stares, wide eyed. "No way! We can achieve our dreams together! Wouldn't that be awesome?"

"It would be something," Genesis agrees, looking amused.

"I signed up for the mentoring program, Gen. That's why he's here. He's my student." Angeal sits back, crossing his arms. Zack turns around completely to face Genesis, taking in his pale complexion his red hair and mako blue eyes. A large red duster hanging around his shoulders and a dangling earring in his right ear. Everything about him is elegant and dangerous.

"Interesting," Genesis murmurs. A charming smile crosses his face. "We should definitely have dinner sometime, pup. And of course, Angeal too. So long as you promise not to insist I eat my vegetables."

Zack snickers at that while Angeal sighs exasperated. "Genesis, you are over twenty years old. You should be at the point in your life where you don't need me to tell you to eat them, you just should."

Genesis elegantly climbs to his feet, grinning down at his childhood friend. "I can not be controlled, Angeal, not even by you. Why are you trying to change me?"

Angeal gives Genesis a dry look as Zack laughs to himself, this is the first time Angeal has shown so much emotion since Zack has met him. "I'm not trying to _change _you, Genesis, or _control _you. I'm just saying you need something other than sweets in your diet."

"No you don't," Zack says sweetly. Genesis nods.

"I agree. And if I didn't know any better, I would say you were calling me fat," Genesis says coyly, giving Angeal a pointed look.

Angeal huffs. "I was not calling you fat-"

"That's what is sounded like to me," Zack says flippantly.

"Asshole," Genesis hisses playfully, eyes twinkling.

Angeal glares at Zack with affection masquerading as anger. "Pup, who's side are you on?"

Zack gives Angeal a cute, yet charming smile. "I'm always on your side, Angeal. I was merely making observations based on what I heard." Zack laughs at the false seriousness of his own voice. "I'm just playing, Angeal."

"Yeah, Angeal," Genesis says silkily. "We're just playing. But seriously, we should do something some time soon."

Angeal's expression softens slightly. "Genesis, it's not... like that with Zack, you know that right?"

"Huh?" Zack looks between the two.

Genesis's blue eyes flicker down to Zack before returning to Angeal's face. "Perhaps, but this wouldn't be the first time I heard something like that and look where we are now." There was no anger in his voice, only gentle calmness.

"I know, but Zack isn't like that," Angeal says, calmly, uncrossing his arms finally and sitting on the floor. One leg flat while the other is bent at the knee.

"I'm not like what?" Zack asks, wondering what they could be talking about.

Genesis reaches down and ruffles Zack's spikes, smiling like he enjoyed that. "We will see. As for you, pup, I can't wait to get to know you."

"Really?" Zack says, bouncing with excitement. "Does this mean we're friends, Genesis?"

The red head grins. "I would love that, pup." He looks back up at Angeal. "Dinner soon, yes?"

Angeal nods, cracking his fingers. "When are you free?"

"Tonight."

"Genesis, you just got back, you must be exhausted," Angeal says. "There is no need to force yourself, we have plenty of time to have dinner. Give yourself a few days to settle in."

"Got it. Done. Now, dinner? Tonight?"

"I..." Angeal hesitates. "Okay fine. When? Where?"

"Eight. Your apartment." Genesis turns on his heel and heads to the door, pausing to look over his shoulder, grinning. "Oh and Angeal?"

Angeal sighs. "Yes, Genesis?"

The red haired man, grins at the two raven haired males in front of him. "Make sure the puppy can come. I would really like to learn a lot more about him." A wink and the man is gone. The door whispering shut once more behind him.

Angeal and Zack both sit in silence for a long time, both lost in their own thoughts. The only sound in the room is the air conditioning blowing through the vets. A quiet and peaceful hum that fills the room. Finally, Zack turns around to look at Angeal.

"I like him."

Angeal smiles faintly. "I bet you do. He like you as well. Which is strange," he murmurs the last part, probably intending that Zack didn't hear it but the boy was able to make out the soft words.

"What do you mean?"

Angeal hesitates before leaning close to Zack. "As friendly as he is on the outside, Genesis doesn't like many people. There is a strict line between respect and like with Genesis. Even if he respects you, that doesn't mean he likes you. While on the other hand, if he likes you, he respects you. It would be one thing if he was intrigued by you but I think he actually likes you."

Zack tilts his head to the side in confusion. "That's a... good thing, right?"

Angeal shrugs. "That depends on who you ask." Angeal looks thoughtful, a small smile on his face.

Zack rolls his shoulders, looking around the room at anything but Angeal wondering what Angeal's going to do about practically being stiff armed by Genesis into inviting him over for dinner tonight. If Genesis just got back, shouldn't he want some time to relax with his friend. It's a little strange that he would feel compelled to want to know more about Zack, because to be completely honest, Zack isn't all that interesting.

As if able to read Zack's mind, Angeal says, "You are more than welcome to join us tonight, pup. Don't think that you have to, though."

Zack looks back at Angeal. "I actually want to. I've never had friends before coming to Shinra, so I think I want to make as many as possible. Is that okay? I mean that's not selfish or anything right?"

Angeal blinks swiftly before shaking his head. "It's not wrong to want to make friends, pup. In fact, I'm sure everything would be a lot different if everyone in the world thought like that."

Zack nods briskly, goofy grin on his face. He pats his hands on his thighs, shaking with excitement. "I want to come over and have dinner because while I know that we are mentor and student I always want to be friends too." Zack blushes at the admission although he's not all that sure why. "Is that wrong?"

"No," Angeal says calmly, placing a hand on Zack's shaking shoulder. "I never expected coming into this relationship without building a bond like that with you. Besides, even if for whatever reason you decided not to go, Genesis would just go looking for you and the last thing I'm sure you'd want is him marching through your barracks and walking you out by your ear."

Zack laughs. "That might actually be kinda funny. While embarrassing, but I would still be able to laugh about it after years of separation and therapy."

Angeal rolls his eyes. "Come on, pup, let's get back to training."

Zack salutes. "Yes sir!" The pauses, realizing once again that he forgot to salute a higher ranked officer earlier. "Hell!"

* * *

So, Zack was nervous. Not a lot, just kinda. He'd at dinner at Angeal's house before but that was just him and Angeal. This is Angeal's friends. This is worse than if he for whatever reason met Angeal's parents. But this is Angeal's friend. His important friend... from... did they ever mention how they knew each other? Oh no, hopefully neither of them will question about it. He might have to make up something on the spot.

"Zack?" Zack looks over his shoulder to see Kunsel leading Angeal over to him. It was Angeal who spoke. "You ready to go?"

Zack nods. "Yeah, one sec." He pulls off his shirt and digs around for another.

Angeal steps past Kunsel to Zack. "Zack?" He looks back at Kunsel. "Thank you."

Kunsel snaps to attention before turning and walking off with a quiet, "Later Zack."

"Bye man," Zack says, turning to Angeal. Still shirtless, he looks up at Angeal. "What's wrong? Should I not come tonight?"

"No, Pup, I just want to asking you something now that I'm thinking about it," Angeal says. He shifts so he's standing properly with his hands behind his back, feet waist length apart. Zack nods for Angeal to continue. "When you came here, you were hurt. Who did that to you?"

Zack blinks rapidly, looking down at his pale chest and stomach there is still a very faint discoloration over his ribs, so faint that Zack can only guess someone with enhanced eyes would probably see. It doesn't hurt him anymore but all of the working out has hindered it from healing as quickly as it would have been if he wasn't exorcising strenuously each and every day.

"It isn't anything important, Angeal," Zack says softly, eyes far away. "I just got involved with a bad guy that did bad things and beat him up. Or, got beaten up by him or whatever. But I made him swear to never do something like what he... did again."

Angeal's eyes flickered down to Zack's ribs before rising back up to his eyes. "Pup, was it a SOLDIER that hurt you?"

Zack smiles sadly. "Angeal, I'm okay. Who it was doesn't matter. So long as he stays on the straight and narrow, we'll be okay." Zack hugs Angeal before the older man can attempt to escape. He squeezes the hard body of the older man as hard as he can, looking up into Angeal's eyes with big eyes. "Thank you for caring, Angeal, but I promise that I'll tell you about him and what he did one day... but for now, he's trying to be better and I'm willing to forgive him so long as he's willing to try. He didn't do anything to me that I... didn't heal from. It's okay." He snuggles a little into the stiff man's chest before pulling away, not at all disturbed by the fact that the man kept his hands at his side the whole time.

Zack pulls on his cadet uniform shirt and tucks it into his pants, as has become ritual for him.

"You mean it?" Angeal says, regaining his composure.

Zack nods. "I do. So don't worry. It's all taken care of. Now, shall we go?"

Angeal nods as well. "We shall. But I do worry. There is nothing you can't say to me, okay, Zack?"

Zack smiles before bouncing up ahead. "Can we race, Angeal? I need to burn some energy."

Angeal's eyes soften and he smiles. "Alright. Let's go."

"Last to the elevator has to set the silverware!" Zack calls, breaking into a sprint out of the barracks, nearly knocking down a fellow cadet on his way out the door. Zack calls an apology over his shoulder when he sees Angeal slowly emerging from the barracks in his sleek black First Class garbs. Looking urethral and powerful and untouchable. And he's smiling, amused. Even weighed down with a 300 pound buster blade, when he begins to jog, he looks like the wind is carrying him.

Zack laughs loudly, picking up his speed. The wind blowing through his hair, brushing his bangs from his forehead. There is an excited roar in his ears from the blood pumping through his veins. He crosses the cadet field in a couple of minutes, the entire time he can almost feel Angeal gaining on him, like an itch on his back getting more persistent.

"You can't let me win, Angeal, that's cheating!" Zack calls back.

"I just don't want you to touch my silverware again, Zackary!" Angeal calls back from not that far behind the young cadet.

"That's still cheating, and let's be honest here, there was no way in the world either of us could have known that I would have dropped that glass!"

Angeal snorts. "Your hands were soaked, pup. What did you think would happen?"

"The prunes on our fingers when wet is an evolutionary trait that we've gained so we would be able to hold things whilst underwater," Zack says through heavy breaths, not at all worried that while he can barely understand himself, Angeal can hear and understand him perfectly.

The older of the two laughs. "It had the opposite effect on you, pup, and as far as my knowledge exceeds, dogs don't get prunes on their paws."

Zack pauses, spinning around to face his grinning mentor with a grin of his own. "You are going to milk that analogy for all it's worth, aren't you?"

Angeal's grin widened a little more. "Can't teach an old dog new tricks."

"Oh shut _up, _Angeal!" Zack rolls his eyes playfully, turning to run up the front steps into the main building. He can still hear his mentor's low chuckles behind him as he slows down to enter the building, at least trying to give the illusion that he is an acceptable person in society. He's not some scum of Gaia that needs to be locked away until it is capable of interacting with the natives of civilization.

People glance up at him when he enters, but make no move to accuse him of being in the middle of a race with his mentor to see who's going to lay out the silverware at their dinner with Genesis tonight. He wasn't even worth a primary glance to most of these people, but Angeal coming in right behind Zack is like a beacon of attention shining over the smaller boy especially when Angeal steps in stride with him.

"They're staring at you," Zack murmurs, knowing Angeal can hear him.

"Let them stare, so long as that's all they do," Angeal says lowly. The both make it up to the elevator and Zack turns to Angeal rolling his eyes.

"Fine, I won't touch the silverware."

Angeal smiles, walking over to the key pad to press the up bottom before turning back to Zack. "That's good news."

"Hardy har," Zack grumbles. The elevator pings and opens up. Two female secretaries step off, while the last one, a pretty red head with green eyes, wearing a black skirt and white blazer, waits on the elevator. Zack hesitates a moment before stepping on with Angeal.

"Miranda," Angeal says. "You got something for me?"

The woman nods, her hair pulled up into a neat but with a few curls hanging loose and bouncing at the movement. "Yes sir, I know you said that you would be taking the rest of the day off to have dinner with General Rhapsodos but something urgent from the President crossed my desk and I figured you might have a moment to look through it."

Angeal nods solemnly. All hint of the playful man earlier is gone, now only the stoic First remains. He takes the offered pieces of paper and skims through them, eyebrows pulling together slightly.

"Has Sephiroth and Genesis seen this yet?"

"Karla sent it over a few minutes ago with the address to General Sephiroth, it's not the original copy, so I'm assuming that another copy was sent to General Rhapsodos' secretary as well, Angela," Miranda says calmly, face completely composed. Zack glances back at her and her stoic look is enough to make Zack flinch. Such beauty is hiding beneath something so cold and detached. When she sees him looking back at her, Miranda smiles lightly. It's a beautiful thing that lights her entire face, making it even more beautiful.

Zack smiles back shyly, offering out his hand. "Zack Fair, Angeal's student."

She takes it. "Miranda Hardy, General Hewley's secretary. And I know you. This is the first time we've met but I need to know where the General is during during the day so there have been plenty of open spaces of time categorized as "Puppy Time"."

Zack gapes, "Angeal! Really?" Glancing over at the smirking Angeal, hunched over a piece of paper, Zack huffs.

"Sorry, pup, I'm busy."

Zack's face colors a little. He wraps his arms around himself and sighs in mock anger. Muttering something about an "old dog" under his breath and Angeal's smirk widens a little.

The piece of paper flutters as it falls to his side. He pressed a button before turning to look at Miranda. "I need to drop this off, can you make sure Zack doesn't have any issues getting to my apartment?"

Miranda nods, her face back to being stoic. When they get to the First Class floor, Zack and Miranda step off and Angeal presses another button before the door closes and Miranda leads the way to Angeal's apartment. They pass a few First Class on their way to Angeal's place, one of which happened to be the blond first talking with two burnet. If Zack had a tail, said tail would be in between his leg with nerves. Zack is painfully aware of his cadet uniform and how nicely dressed Miranda is next to him, not at all perturbed by the hulking Firsts.

The blond First stares at Zack as he and Miranda walk by and for some reason, Zack feared what the older man would do but he didn't know what. But instead of something scary happening, something amazing happened. The older man nods, making the other two SOLDIERs look over at him. Zack smiles and gives a little wave, trying not to make his unease obvious.

They make it to Angeal's door, she pulls out a security id card and swipes the keypad and deftly types in a code and the door opens almost silently. She turns to Zack with a pleasant smile. "Would you like me to stay here with you?"

"No, I'll be okay," he says, waving slightly. "Thank you so much for helping me out. Do you think Angeal will be long?"

"Not too long, I suppose. And you're welcome." With that Miranda tips her head in goodbye before turning and walking away. Zack hesitates before stepping past the threshold into the house. It's strange to be in Angeal's apartment without him there. There's a part of Zack that wants to go around and snoop because he's nosy by nature but this is Angeal that we're talking about. There is no way Zack would do anything know Angeal wouldn't approve.

Zack walks over to the couch and lowers himself onto it, hoping and praying that he doesn't mess up this dinner with Angeal and Genesis.


	7. The dinner

**Author's note: Sorry for the long wait! I was really busy trying to prepare for a show I was performing in. It's finally over so now I can focus again on my writing. Sorry this chapter is a little slow but I believe there is going to be a time skip in the next chapter, so please read carefully! Thanks so far to everyone's support! Let me know what you think! Enjoy!**

**Warnings: None. Well, maybe language.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the story idea and OCs.**

**Word count: 4,986**

Zack jingles his leg nervously. He looks around Angeal's living room for what feels like the millionth time. It's so weird to be in someone's house without them there too. Almost as weird as being in someone's house and only their parents being there, or like a single sibling or something. Maybe Zack should get out the silverware anyway. Maybe Zack should turn on the television and just wait for Angeal to get here. Maybe Zack should do something other than what he's doing right now.

Jumping to his feet, Zack beings pacing back and forth, wishing that he had taken Miranda up on her offer of staying with him for a bit until Angeal showed up. Now he has to walk around here completely lost on what he's suppose to do. Zack finally forces himself to stop and falls to his knees and then face down on the floor. He lays face down, humming to himself, trying to do anything but think about how alone he is in someone else's house.

"Chocobo buddies, that's who I want to be! Chocobo buddies, a spot for you and me!" Zack sings the theme song of his favorite childhood t.v show, voice muffled by the carpet. "I shouldn't be left alone," Zack sighs. "I just lose my mind."

"Trust me, it's obvious," Angeal says. Zack strains his neck to look up at Angeal standing in the doorway. He stares down at the Zack with a quirky half smile, holding the door open slightly. He closes it and walks over to Zack, looking amused. Zack rolls onto his back and grins up at his mentor.

"Oh Angeal, thank the Goddess you're home! You've been gone for so long!" Zack raises his arms up to Angeal, grinning widely.

Angeal shakes his head, grabbing both of Zack's hands and pulling the small boy up to his feet. "Zack, I think I've only been away for about fifteen minutes. At the most. Come on, Genesis will be here any minute."

Zack bounces on his feet. "This is so exciting! And a little nerve-wracking. Should I be scared? Because I am, like, really scared. What if he ends up hating me? I want to fit in with your friends and _I _want to be Genesis's friend too. I'm just not sure if him liking me originally was a fluke or not," Zack blabs, following Angeal into the kitchen. He takes the salt and pepper shakers that is handed to him and puts them in the center of the small wooden table. Capable of fitting up to six people.

"I think you're stressing over nothing, Pup," Angeal says smoothly.

Zack gasps. "What if he hates county boys? Does my country slang show?"

Angeal looks at Zack thoughtfully. "A little."

Zack's hands fly to his face with a loud smack. "Angeal!" His words are muffled behind his hands. "Are you serious right now?"

The older man laughs, putting out napkins in three spots, grinning playfully at Zack. "Zack, I'm joking. Trust me, Gongaga may be a bit backwater but at least it's on the map compared to where Genesis and I come from."

"And where is that?" Zack asks, surprised that he never thought to ask before now.

Angeal pauses for just a moment before staring off, like he's seeing his hometown in his mind's eye. A small, minute smile gracing his lips. "A sleepy little town called Banora."

"Never heard of it."

Angeal gives Zack a pointed look. "And my point has been proven. It's a small town. There's not much out there, probably a dozen houses with only about thirty people in total. I think the only thing we're known for is our Dumb Apples."

"Huh?" Zack raises an eyebrow.

Angeal smiles affectionately now, thinking back to the last time he had a Dumb Apple in his home town. "Banora White is their official name. They are white apples that grow at random times during the year and so the people affectionately call them Dumb Apples."

Zack tilts his head in confusion. "I don't think I get it."

"Then we'll have to take you out there sometime so you can see it," Genesis' voice is like silk in Zack's ear. The young boy jumps regardless. "No one should ever have to trudge through life without trying one of Banora's famous Dumb Apples. I'll even let you have one from the tree that grows in my yard." Zack turns to look at Genesis in time to see the red haired man wink. "But only if you ask nicely."

Before Zack can respond, Angeal interjects, "Welcome Genesis. You're late, by the way."

Genesis smiles coyly. "Trust me, friend, I could be a lot later than I am. I've done it before."

"Genesis never was one for punctuation. I don't know how Sephiroth can even begin to deal with you. He gets annoyed when he has to add a few more minutes to the timer on the oven," Angeal says.

"If it was suppose to go in for 15 minutes instead of 13, it should have specified," another voice says, behind Genesis.

Angeal and Zack both peak around the red haired man to see a white haired man standing at the doorway, taking off his boots, staring blandly at Genesis's lack of courtesy. Angeal smiles warmly. "Welcome Seph, I didn't know you would be coming tonight," death glare at Genesis. "I'll set another place at the table."

"My apologies," the white haired man murmurs. "Genesis misinformed me. I should have known he would be negligent in notifying you that I would be joining you as well."

Angeal and Genesis share a look. Angeal a look of affectionate annoyance and Genesis of playful ignorance.

"My bad," Genesis says flippantly, not all that sorry despite his words. He puts an arm around Zack's shoulders, the boy staring blankly at the stranger walking gracefully into the dinning room, only stopping next to the table to stare back with a rivaled look of lack of emotion. Genesis grins to himself, a mischevious gleam in his eye. "Pup, do you have anything you want to say?"

"To him?" Zack nods to the stranger. The man tilts his head slightly at the words. A little bit of silver hair sliding over his shoulder.

"Yup," Genesis says simply, eyes watching the hairs movement for a moment before returning to Zack.

Angeal lays down plates and cups, giving the back of Genesis's head an annoyed look. "He has no idea who Seph is either, Gen." Then, as an after-thought, he adds, "And you know that." He seems a little confused by this.

Genesis waves for him to quiet down as Zack and Sephiroth stare at each other.

The first thing that Zack takes notice of is those shocking cerulean blues. Nothing like the mako blue of Angeal and Genesis's eyes. The oblong shape of a pure black iris in the center of each of the cerulean pools. Long fringe hangs around his narrow face, hair long and glossy, like fine silk. Garbed in an assortment of black leathers and silver armor. His chest is bare save for a few belts criss-crossing over it and a single straining button on his flack jacket.

Zack blinks a few times, drawing the intense stare of those cerulean blues to the movement. "Um... No... I don't know..." He stares a moment longer before blinking from the strange daze that the white haired man had him under. "Can I ask you something?"

The white haired man nods. "You may."

"How do you manage such long hair?" Zack hears himself ask before he can really think about it.

Sephiroth tilts his head to the side, the question not what he expected. He stares at the innocent blue eyes of the younger man in front of him, wondering if perhaps this was merely a joke. "Pardon?"

Zack feels Genesis trembling with laughter next to him. He gapes awkwardly, fishing for words to somehow get him out of this embarrassing predicament. "No. I mean, um, sorry. I... I didn't mean for it to come out like that." Zack presses his lips together into a thin line for a moment. Sephiroth just stares at him with an unreadable expression. Zack wilts under the older man's stare. "This is embarrassing," he murmurs under his breath.

"It... It's fine," the white haired man says.

Angeal glares at Genesis, pulling Zack from his grip to lead him over to Sephiroth. "Pup, this is Sephiroth, another personal friend of mine. Sephiroth, my pup, Zack Fair."

Sephiroth offers a hand. "Pleasure."

Zack takes it. "Nice to-" he pauses, blinking rapidly. He looks from Angeal to Sephiroth, then over his shoulder at a grinning Genesis realizing that he's being played right now. There's something that he's missing. Something that Genesis wanted him to pick up on. Something that Angeal already called that Zack wouldn't be able to figure it out. Wait, did Angeal say "Sephiroth"?

Zack snaps to a salute, stiff and wide eyed. "Sorry sir! I just..." Zack sighs. "I don't know why I am constantly making an ass of myself." Now Genesis is laughing out loud. Sephiroth merely stares at the younger man, looking at Zack with a tilted head, face expressionless.

"Pup, your naivete is adorable," Genesis says through his joyous bouts of mirth. "I just had to see if it went all the way."

The younger man makes a face at that, not at all sure if he should feel insulted or bashful that someone as important as Genesis Rhapsodos, who is important regardless of whether or not Zack knows the extent of that fame, to take notice of him and want to tease him. Regardless of how slightly cruel it may seem, it's also a bit flattering. Zack just at least wished that he had a little more tact or better yet, awareness of what is going on around him.

"Okay, Gen, the joke has gone on for too long," Angeal says smoothly. "Apologize."

"Sorry, puppy. I just wanted Sephiroth to see what I saw," Genesis shrugs, not all that bent out of shape about what happened.

"Sorry, Seph, the pup's a little slow on the uptake," Angeal says.

Zack nods next to his mentor. "Yeah, I'm-" he pauses, thinking about what Angeal said. He gives his mentor a dry look. "Angeal, not cool."

Angeal shrugs, walking back to the kitchen while Zack eases out of his salute at Sephiroth's blank look. The two stare at each other for a long, drawn out moment before Sephiroth finally says, "No disrespect taken, puppy. We are not on the clock. This is our personal time, feel free to address me casually."

Zack blinks a few times. "And what exactly is casual, sir?"

"Sephiroth."

Zack, immediately dropping the formalities, bounces over to Sephiroth, beaming. "Nice to meet you, Sephiroth. My ma always said that you can never have enough friends in you life. The people that mean the most to you should be told and shown how much they mean to you. So, let's be friends, okay?"

Sephiroth's eyes lower slightly in thought before rising to lock with Zack's big blues. "We shall see."

Genesis pats Sephiroth on the back, giving him a knowing look when Zack turned away to sit at the table, foot tapping loudly on the floor. Sephiroth, Genesis and Angeal sit around him and they talk about light topics. The weather, how Zack's training is going, some interesting missions that the three went on. Nothing too heavy and when food from some Wutaian restaurant that Genesis likes comes, they start out eating in silence.

Zack jabs at some weird green thing he didn't recognize with his fork, it's jelly-like and wiggles, trying to get away from Zack and he's half tempted to let it after the ninth try at stabbing it. Finally, harpooning it, Zack slowly, tentatively bringing it to his lips.

He opens his mouth to take a bite of the strange green jelly when Genesis says flippantly, "Do you know what that is, Puppy?"

Mouth still hanging open, he shakes his head.

"Chocobo liver."

Zack's fork clanks against his dinner plate. Genesis smiles, taking a bite of some noodles. Zack stares at Genesis, mouth still open, wondering if he can believe what Genesis is saying. He looks around at the other patrons, wondering if perhaps they will just tell him, "oh no, Zack, Genesis is just playing you. It's really not" or "don't lie to him Genesis, what sane person cooks chocobo liver and feeds it to other sane people?" But no. Neither said a damn word and Zack felt his face draining of color. He tentatively lowers his hands onto his lap and clears his throat.

"Pup, don't let Genesis scare you," Angeal says.

"Yeah," Genesis says simply, "they haven't had many fatalities recently."

Zack falls back against his chair, blinking rapidly. He interlace his fingers on his lap and relaxes in his chair, eyes closing. He listens to the sounds of chewing, the clanking of silverware against the plates. Everything is so relaxing. It's not like Zack is in the room with three of the most powerful SOLDIERs in the world, one being his mentor, one being his firy best friend and the last being the greatest SOLDIER, both hero and demon.

But somehow, Zack feels like he's floating. Like he's not completely overwhelmed with everything that's going on. He's having dinner with legends and yet he feels like he's by himself in a room with the t.v on, listening to someone else eating in silence. The atmosphere between the trio is that of serenity and calmness. Friendly and Zack would even dare to say love. They have this understanding amongst them, some kind of silent agreement that no words really need to be said.

"Tired, pup?"

Zack opens his eyes, blinking a few times to get the spots from his vision. "Huh? No. Just relaxing." He looks over at Angeal and smiles lightly. He sits forward once more and picks at the chocobo liver, scooting it to the end of the plate and looking to grab something else to eat.

"Long day?" Genesis inquires, looking at Zack through long eyelashes.

The youngest of the group smiles tiredly. "A little. Training is really kicking my ass." He laughs, eyes crinkling. "But totally worth it."

Angeal smiles lightly, nodding. "And you're doing fine. You're a natural with a sword and you're doing great in your hand-to-hand. It's going to be fine."

Zack spins noodles around his fork for a few long moments before looking up at Angeal. "I'll be okay."

Angeal pauses for a moment before nodding slowly. "You will be, pup. I believe it you."

Zack beams. "I know. And thank you so much for that. I'm so lucky to have you as a mentor, Angeal, and I don't think I ever adequately thanked you for that. I need you to know that I do appreciate it." Zack reaches over and puts a hand on Angeal's arm. "Thank you, Angeal. Really, thank you."

Angeal smiles back, softly. "You're welcome, pup. Keep up the good work."

"Will do."

A few long moments of silence before Genesis speaks up, "So, pup, I hear your birthday is next week." Zack opens his mouth, blinking rapidly, then waves his hands around, trying to find the words to that but coming up with nothing. Genesis, taking pity on poor confused boy by saying, "I read your file."

"Yeah, four days. November 8th."

Genesis grins now. "So I did the math..."

Zack shakes his head, knowing where the red head is going with it. "I don't know why but yes, I know, I am a Feburary 14 conception baby. Trust me, my ma isn't much for keeping secrets. I'm just going to save you the gory details and leave you with that."

Genesis raises an eyebrow while Angeal has a mixed look of thoughtfulness and confusion and maybe a bit of repulsion. Sephiroth, on the other hand, looks completely neutral. Like everything said today is absolutely normal to him. Especially the fact that a near fifteen year old boy just admitted to his newly made mentor and mentor's friends that his mom has told him about the day of his conception. The only remaining question is, aside from _why _she would share such information, _how _such a topic was even brought up.

It's no secret, especially to Zack, that he has an unhealthy attachment and bond with his mother. They share just about everything with each other. Zack's dad is friendly enough and Zack never doubts that he is loved, but his mom is the one that knows everything about him. Is like his best friend. So maybe Zack did have a best friend back in Gongaga, he just didn't even realize it.

"I had heard of them talking about letting fourteen years olds in so long as they turn fifteen within a few weeks after they start their training. I think you're the first they've implemented for the cadet program. I've seen it in the Infantry," Genesis muses. "So, what made you so special, pup?"

Zack's eyes grow distant, pupils expanding dazedly. His mind is drawn back to that day. He didn't even attempt to go near the recruiter, knowing that he wouldn't be able to sign up anyway and there wasn't all that many boys in Gongaga to begin with. Sure there was a few that wanted to sign up, that hadn't the years before but there wouldn't be more than a handful this year.

Most of the town was quiet. Almost everyone had made their way over to recruiter. It's rare for the people of Gongaga to get new faces around there. Even being a coastal city, it wasn't very well known. That didn't matter to Zack or the rest of the Gongagians. They enjoyed the solitude. Sure, there was a single mako reactor out there, and that was probably one of the primary reasons that Gongaga stayed afloat. Most of the people who didn't work on their farms, worked at the reactor for Shinra.

Zack walked through the quiet town, smiling under the beating sun. Zack spun around, skipping around on the dirt road. He stops, raising his arms up and closing his eyes. The warm rays soaking into his sun kissed skin, pulsating through him when he hears something. Something coming up behind him. Rushing toward him.

Zack jolts away from the memory filling his mind's eye and his ears. A scream in his ear, which thankfully is just from the memory. His lips are pressed so close together forming a thin, straight line.

"Pup?" Angeal says softly, reaching out to touch him, but his hand hovers over Zack's arm.

Shaking out of the daze, Zack smiles thinly. "I'm sorry. Um, I got into a fight... while the recruiter was there and he happened to oversee. He gave me the recommendation." Zack shrugs like it's no big deal. Ghost pain flares over his face and ribs. He shivers at the memory. He hides it behind a smile. "And, here I am!"

Angeal pulls his hand back and nods. "Yes, well, I'm thankful that you are. Do you have any plans for your birthday?"

Zack shakes his head. "Um, no. I was considering not celebrating this year."

Angeal blinks a few times fast, probably trying to see if he heard right. "Did you say you aren't going to celebrate this year?"

Zack shrugs, pushing his plate away. "Yeah. I mean, in Gongaga, birthdays were celebrated by all of the people in town. There was so few of us that everyone was allowed to come to every birthday but... well, there's a lot more people here in Midgar and not everyone knows everyone so... I guess I don't want to make my new friends think they have to buy me something for my birthday. Maybe next year." Zack pulls his knees up to his chest, balancing on the chair. "It's no big deal."

Angeal opens his mouth but a different voice speaks instead. "I don't think you should skip this year."

Three sets of eyes fly to the most stoic of the group. The silver haired man slowly lowers his fork and knife and looks up slowly at each of the individual faces evenly. He interlaces his fingers onto the table and stares pointedly at Zack.

"You are young, Fair. The last thing you should be thinking about is not having a birthday," Sephiroth says simply.

Angeal nods. "Sephiroth is right. You should go out and celebrate it. There is one day each year that's dedicated to you. You should enjoy it while you can."

Zack purses his lips, shrugging his shoulders a little. "I'll think about it. It does fall on a Saturday, after all. Maybe I can convince the guys to go out and do something that night."

Angeal smiles lightly. "Good boy."

And with that, the foursome return to their dinner. Or at least the older three do. The youngest of them looks around the room, really taking in the quiet murmuring of the other patrons in the room as they talk about their day, more specifically, the mission Genesis just returned from.

"They are sure getting audacious," Genesis murmurs, pushing his plate away.

Zack blinks out of his listless staring and into the conversation. "Who?"

Genesis looks at Zack with half lidded eyes. "A group in Wutai and Arcan religious nuts. I mean, I believe whole-heartedly in the Goddess but these guys are completely out of this world."

Zack lays his feet back on the ground and leans close, interested. "Like, what? What's with these guys?"

"These guys believe in the Goddess, they do, but they don't worship her, they worship her Champion," Genesis explains.

Zack glances around at Angeal and Sephiroth, both watching Genesis. Zack looks back at Genesis, eyes wide like sausers. "Well? Who's the Champion? What are they like?"

Genesis smiles lightly, pleased at being the center of attention. "No one knows who the Champion is. At least not yet. One of their... leaders, an old, blind man claims to be able to see people's spirits. I was strictly told _spirits _when I originally said _auras. _Anyway, they believe that the Champion is the will of the Goddess. That he -or she, I suppose- is the voice and the spear of the Goddess, eliminating the darkness and evil in the world with her purifying light. These people are crazy believers. They have spread their belief all around the world," Genesis says, shaking his head. "I had to go out there to mediate down south because of them ralleying."

"They're known for peaceful protests of the churches of the Goddess, though, aren't they?" Angeal asks.

Sephiroth nods. "They do peaceful protests against the churches every few years, angry at their lack of knowledge about the Champion and their lack of faith. All of their protests have been peaceful but over the years they have become more and more radical, going so far as to steal people off the streets for their leader to look at in hopes of them being the Champion."

Zack blinks rapidly. "What will they do when they find this Champion?"

All three men in the room share looks, none knowing what to say. Finally, Angeal shifts to face Zack and says, "Not sure, but you have to listen to me now, pup, do not mess around with those guys. I'm not sure whether or not they are dangerous, but I do know that I don't trust them. They may be peaceful now, but who knows what would happen when they get their hands on the Champion, if that person even exists."

"I agree with Angeal," Genesis says simply. "I don't trust them either. Religious nuts like that are only going to escalate. It's best to just leave them alone and let this entire thing blow over."

Zack rubs his shoulder uncomfortably. "I've heard of the Goddess, but this is the first I've ever heard of a Champion."

"Their religious leader- the one that can see spirits- was said to have a dream of the Champion being born years and years ago. Ever since, he has gained a following and has scowered the world looking for this Champion."

"But why? What would make him think it was any more than a simple dream?" Zack asks.

Sephiroth turns his beautiful eyes toward the youngest of them. "The day that followed the dream, he was said to be able to see people's spirits. He believed he was gifted by the Goddess."

They sit in silence for a long time, all stuck in their own thoughts. Zack tries to imagine this Champion. Thinking of all of the stereotypes in the world. A strong, impossibly wise man, fighting for the innocent and for the weak. Some people would say that's Sephiroth, some would say he's the opposite. But that leads Zack to wonder if being a hero and being a champion is the same thing. They both save people and are really strong. They do what they can to keep order and justice, beat the bad guy in the end and get the girl. They're practically the same.

Zack's front right pocket vibrates, snapping the younger man from his thoughts.

He pulls it out and stares at the caller ID for a long moment until it clicks on, revealing the person's number on the other end.

"Can I, Angeal?" Zack asks, standing up.

Angeal nods, waving his hand vaguely.

Zack puts the phone to his ear. "Hello? Ma?"

"Zack, hello! I'm so sorry for calling you so late, I was just thinking about you and I wanted to say this in case I forgot. Happy birthday, baby boy! I miss you so much! It's been forever since I've even heard anything from you? Why don't you write your poor mother? I'm not getting any younger, you know. What about your dad? He misses you terribly. Have you met a girl yet? Is she pretty? Why don't you write? Do you not love me anymore? I went through hours of labor to get your big head through my uterus and this is how you thank me?"

Zack, eyes wide, shakes his free hand wildly. "Ma! Ma! Stop that! I don't hate you. Thank you for the birthday wishes and oh my goddess, can we not talk about you giving birth to me? This is really awkward!" Zack's eyes flicker up to the three men in the room, no doubt able to hear her loud voice. He turns away, hoping vainly that it will somehow contain his mother's overbearing voice.

"Awkward?" Zack's mom snorts indignant. "I am your mother. And besides, we've already discussed me giving birth to you before."

The raven haired boy groans. "I know! Good goddess do I know! Don't you think there is anything remotely wrong with that statement?"

"No," Mrs. Fair says calmly, "I think that every boy should know all about sex and birth. It will help you make better choices."

Zack rolls his eyes. "Yeah, but not my own!"

"Well, I didn't very well see my own birth and how many children do you think I've had?" Mrs. Fair says indignant. A moment of pause before her voice returns, this time softer. "But, besides that, I want you to write me, okay? I miss you. Write and call, just to let me know you're okay."

Zack smiles faintly. "I will. I love you, ma."

"I love you too, Zacky."

"Give pop my love."

"I will," Mrs. Fair says softly, hint of a smile in her voice.

Zack wraps one arm around himself. "And the rest of Gongaga?"

"Alright. Take care of yourself. Call me again soon. Or write. Either is fine. Next time, we will talk longer, you hear?"

Zack smiles. "Yes, ma'am."

The phone dies and Zack hesitates before finally pulling the phone from his ear. With a sharp snap of it closing, he stuffs it into his pocket. He takes a moment to relish in his mother's voice. Even though he's been away from her for a few weeks, he's missed her terribly but also didn't think of her much. So busy with everything that is going on, it's hard to think too much of life back home.

"You're ma sounds nice," Angeal says. "A very... pleasant woman, from the sounds of it."

Zack turns, smiling at his mentor. "She is. A little excentric, but I love her nonetheless."

Angeal looks thoughtful. "Good boy, pup. Always gain whatever knowledge and wisdom but most of all -love- from your elders."

Zack pauses for a moment, considering those words. He nods, walking back over to his seat and sitting down. "I will, thanks Angeal."

Angeal nods. "You're welcome, pup."


End file.
